Tradition Can Go Screw Itself
by HigherMagic
Summary: Castiel is an Alpha in High School, and also the bane of Dean's existence. But when Dean turns eighteen, it turns out that the Alpha he'd been promised to, had wanted for so long to take him away from Castiel's overbearing presence, was the Alpha himself. Now he's got to make a choice: go against his family, and his body, or stick around and see if Castiel is worth the effort.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Tradition Can Go Screw Itself (Or 'The Taming of the Shrew')  
**Fandom: **Supernatural  
**Author:** HigherMagic  
**Artist: **liliaeth  
**Characters/Pairings: **Dean/Castiel**  
Rating:** NC-17**  
Word Count: **~27,100  
**Spoilers:** None, it's AU.  
**Warnings:** knotting, asshole!Castiel, chasing, arranged marriages, references to MPreg, attempted non-con (not Destiel and doesn't go far), toys, rimming and D/s.  
**Summary:** Castiel is an Alpha in high school – star athlete, most wanted bachelor on the market, and a temper to give him a reputation and a half. Unfortunately, that reputation has managed to reach the one Omega he never thought would be his: the one that he had been matched with from birth and was destined to be mated to. So, faced with the one challenge he can't fight away, Castiel has to prove to Dean that he's willing and able to be a nice guy – can be what Dean wants in a mate. If only it were that easy.  
**Author's Notes:** Written for the abo_bigbang challenge on LiveJournal. Liliaeth on LJ did art for it - go check it out!

* * *

"Hey, bitch!"

Dean's shoulders tensed at the sound of an, unfortunately, well-known voice. He closed his eyes, wanting so desperately for his locker to open up wide enough that he could climb in and be swallowed whole, and tried to hide his face behind the red-painted door of his locker.

A rough hand wrapped around his shoulder, though, pulling him back and spinning him hard enough that he slammed against the neighboring locker, the open door of his own catching against his spine, and he barely stifled the pained sound that wanted to escape at the feeling of the sharp-edged corners digging into his back.

"You'll fucking look at me when I talk to you, you understand me?"

Dean bit his lower lip, keeping his head low and focused on the other student's shoes, because while he desperately needed to obey the order he also knew eye contact would just get him hit again and he was trying to make it through the day with as few injuries as possible. "Yes," he whispered, eyes closing again, head tilted to one side to bare his throat and hopefully placate the angry other teen.

"Yes, _what_?" came the reply, a hand at his throat forcing his head back against the cold, hard metal of the lockers, and Dean swallowed frantically, able to feel his Adam's apple pressing tight against the saddle of a hand, his own arms stuck firmly to his sides because he dared not fight back.

He opened his eyes again. "Yes, Alpha," he said, as strongly as he could manage – which was still, to his ears, pathetically weak – his gaze finding the burning blue eyes of the other boy and holding as steadily as he could. "Yes, Castiel," he bit out when the fingers squeezed tighter, gunmetal blue eyes narrowing, upper lip curling back in a snarl.

At the sound of his name, the Alpha teenager smirked in obvious pleasure, finally letting go of Dean and letting him drop back down onto the floor. Dean gasped, rubbing at his sore throat, swallowing hard. "That's right," the Alpha purred, pressing closer to Dean's body and while the Omega wanted so desperately to run, or to lash out and protect himself, he allowed it, ducking his head away to bare his throat and trying to make himself look as small as possible underneath Castiel. A hand flattened itself in his hair, fingers curling and nails dragging along his scalp hard enough to hurt, and he bit his lip to stifle a whimper. "That's a good boy. I got you something – would you like to see it?"

Dean swallowed, his cheeks reddening in an embarrassed flush already. He could only imagine what other kind of 'gift' Castiel might have gotten him today. The Alpha had seemed to develop this strange obsession with Dean – one that Dean could not and probably never would understand – and while Castiel's disdain and hate had been bad, his awful kind of attentiveness was far worse.

Castiel was a volatile presence in school – the teachers either loved or hated him (mostly hated him but they couldn't do shit because he was the star athlete and sailed through all of his classes without even trying) and the student body acted like in-heat Omegas around him. Whenever he passed through the halls at least two or three students turned their backs and bared their throats for him, but he always, _always_, chose to go and harass Dean. The Omega had no idea why and it scared and confused him, felt like fire ants were always crawling under his skin, wondering and waiting for the Alpha to show himself again.

He tilted his chin up in rare defiance, eyes focused on the collar of Castiel's letterman jacket. "My name's Dean," he hissed. "Not 'boy', or 'bitch'."

Castiel's eyes were practically glowing with Alpha glee – he loved seeing Dean riled up, though why Dean couldn't fathom, didn't _want _to fathom. His shoulders went tense again as Castiel slipped a hand into his leather satchel, and forced what he pulled out with a harsh slap against Dean's chest. "Business before pleasure, _Dean_," Castiel murmured, grinning wide enough to show the sharpness of his teeth. "It's due tomorrow."

Dean sucked in a breath, about to argue, but swallowed down his protest and wordlessly took the sheets of paper, his finger absently dragging across the staple in the corner, and skimmed across the assignment. An essay on Wolff's _Bullet in the Brain. _He breathed out a sigh of relief, seeing how many pages the story took up in the textbook for Castiel's class. Only three pages long. Shouldn't take too much work.

And _that _was why Castiel was flying through his classes so easily, while Dean was barely struggling to pass. He was too busy doing the all-star Alpha's homework to focus on his own. "I _really _appreciate this, sweetheart," Castiel purred, smile sharp and voice too-sweet, that low growl that always brought an embarrassed flush to Dean's cheeks, and the Omega bit his lip, silently slipping the stapled packet between his own notebooks without a word. "You're such a good Omega, Dean, always so willing to please me."

Dean could count on one hand how many times Castiel had called him by his actual name – and since Castiel knew _everyone_ in school, Dean had doubted that it was because he didn't know it. His name, coming out of Castiel's mouth almost like a curse, a snarl, made Dean's shoulders tense, his eyes flashing to the golden-colored skin stretched around Castiel's strong jaw, rough with dark stubble and clenching tight.

He didn't even want to think about the second half of Castiel's comment – didn't want to think about the warm feeling in Dean's stomach or how his lips twitched with an instinctual smile, hearing Castiel call him 'good'. "That the business?" he asked instead of trying to squirm away, raising his eyes just shy of meeting Castiel's, knew that the figurative eye of the storm that was Castiel was brief and icy cold, and he was shivering.

Castiel's smile quirked up higher in one corner, sharpening. His eyes gleamed, tiny threads of Alpha red mixing with the blue when he leaned closer, one forearm braced against the lockers and locking Dean in. Dean was younger, still a junior because of his late birthday, and shorter than Castiel and still kind of weedy and gifted with much of the natural grace and beauty Omegas had, but he was starting to fill out, was due for another growth spurt soon, and it warmed him to think that Castiel might not be bigger than him for much longer.

"So eager," Castiel whispered, leaning in close, his voice low and snarling and sending a shiver straight down Dean's spine. The Omega's eyes fluttered closed and he leaned away on instinct, throat bare to the Alpha's mouth should Castiel wish to make a mark there. There was a conflict in his head, demanding that he stand tall and keep his neck protected, but the far more dominant part of him was willingly baring his throat and lowering himself to the ground for the Alpha.

Castiel's next words made Dean freeze. "Next week's your eighteenth birthday, Dean," he said, again using Dean's real name, and it was throwing the Omega for a huge loop, so out of character for the normally loud and cocky Alpha – that he would ever care about Dean's birthday, or know when it was, was a shock and a half. He turned his head and Castiel leaned away, their eyes meeting, Castiel baring his teeth in a smile. "Your parents organizing a chase?"

Dean's eyes narrowed, and he lifted his chin in defiance. "For your information, my family doesn't buy into that barbaric crap," he hissed, anger making him much more daring than he normally would be. Almost as soon as he said the words, Dean froze up again, eyes wide, but Castiel was laughing, shaking his head in amusement and leaning back, finally giving Dean some space. The rush of cool air against Dean's red cheeks was dizzying. "They said I already have a mate. I'm meeting him on my birthday, not that it's any business of yours."

Castiel's eyes flashed at that, and he snarled. "Oh, is that right?" he asked, humor gone now, threat back, and Dean immediately ducked away when Castiel took a step towards him again, putting himself away from the lockers and now backing down the corridor. Most of the students had gone, home or to after-school clubs. Dean had been grabbing his books for homework and heading home when Castiel caught up with him.

The Alpha's eyes narrowed, seeing Dean backing away, and Castiel turned towards him with another low snarl. "Should have known your family would have sold your pretty little ass, soon as you were ready to breed," he bit out, and his gaze felt like a physical caress over Dean's body, the Omega shuddered hard and took another step back, his eyes instinctively darting to the floor, but forced upward so that he could see if Castiel was going to make a grab for him.

Castiel was advancing on him, sure and cocky as ever and Dean shrank back. "You know who he is?" the Alpha asked, too casually, too low and Dean swallowed, shaking his head. "Don't you dare lie to me, Dean – if you know and don't tell me, I can make you regret it."

"I don't know who it is, Castiel, I -."

Dean choked off with a startled cry when Castiel was suddenly at him again, pressing him up against the lockers with the strong grip of his hand wrapped tight around Dean's throat. Castiel's arm locked and he could lift Dean with one hand – he was strong, incredibly strong, and if Dean wasn't so scared he knew his body would be reacting on instinct to such a display. But as it was he dropped his notes and grabbed for Castiel's hand, knowing it was useless. Castiel was an athlete, the _star_ athlete, and if he wanted to really hurt Dean, he could, and no one would be able to stop him.

Castiel let him linger there, eyes almost completely threaded with red now so there was no more blue left to them, upper lip curled back in a vicious snarl as Dean struggled and kicked at him to try and get free. Finally, after what felt like forever where Dean's vision was starting to blacken out around the edges and he was sure Castiel would actually try and hurt him, the Alpha let him drop, hands suddenly wrapping around Dean's just below his shoulders to stop him from falling. Dean coughed, grabbing at his throat and did his best to convince his lungs that they weren't still suffocating.

He looked at Castiel, disbelieving that the Alpha had let himself fall that far, before Castiel blinked and the red was gone from his eyes so suddenly that Dean had to wonder if it had been there at all. A hand gently touched his jaw and Dean flinched with a low gasp, making Castiel's eyes harden.

"I was going to wait," Castiel murmured, cocking his head to one side and a smile returning to his face. That smile scared Dean more than when the red had overtaken Castiel's eyes. "I was going to bide my time, but circumstances are always changing, aren't they?"

"What circumstances?" Dean whispered, horrified, his voice still weak and croaky after the abuse at Castiel's hand.

The Alpha smiled, one corner of his mouth quirking up high, and then suddenly he was kissing Dean.

Understandably, Dean was a little confused, but there was no denying the insistent press of Castiel's lips against his. The Omega gasped, shuddering at the warmth of the Alpha's body pressed so close to his, harsh, unforgiving flesh in front of him and hard, unyielding metal lockers behind. Castiel kissed Dean like he already owned him, hand that had touched his jaw dragging nails roughly over Dean's scalp, cupping the back of his neck and pressing hard on either side in the imitation of a chasing bite. Dean clutched at Castiel's biceps, at a loss of what to do except fight back, get some air between them, but if anything that just spurred Castiel on, the Alpha pressing closer between Dean's legs – and when had he spread them? He couldn't remember.

Castiel bit at his lower lip, forcing Dean's mouth open so his tongue could slide inside – again, like he owned Dean's mouth, like there was no part of Dean that he could not and had never touched or kissed or bitten. His free hand curled around Dean's hip, just under his shirts, thumb stroking the jut of his hipbone and dipping just under the waistline of his jeans in a teasing caress that had Dean shuddering.

The younger boy's cheeks flamed when he realized that he was getting wet, body reacting to the stench of Alpha so close to him, testosterone in Castiel's scent and coating his mouth making Dean's body react without his consent. His entire body felt like it was on fire, Castiel's teasing, soft touches a cooling balm and so unlike what Dean had ever experienced at the hand of the older boy that he had no idea what to do or say, or how to respond.

Finally Castiel pulled away, tiny threads of red in his eyes almost unnoticeable, but he was standing so close that Dean couldn't help but see. He smiled again – the same cocky smirk as he had worn in the beginning – and carefully withdrew his hands. Dean bit his lip to stifle a whimper, somehow wanting that touch to return. Castiel made him feel as though he was on fire and now, without him touching Dean, the Omega feared that he would burst into flames and turn to ash at the Alpha's feet. God help him, but he _wanted _Castiel to touch him again, and how messed up did that make him?

"I have something for you," the Alpha murmured after another second, taking a step back, and Dean's eyes darted down to the bag where Castiel's hand dipped again. He licked his lips, not certain of what to expect, but sure that it would be embarrassing or humiliating or both.

He was not disappointed.

Dean did not immediately recognize the object that Castiel withdrew, but as soon as he did – well, he thought his face couldn't get any redder, but apparently he was wrong. "I want you to wear this tomorrow," the Alpha said, his voice firm enough that Dean recognized that it was an order and not a suggestion, and Castiel handed the thing over. With shaking fingers, wondering at the fact that his body didn't even think about disobeying Castiel, he took the anal plug, grimacing at the smooth plastic feel.

Then, he flinched, because Castiel was pressing up against him again and his shoulder collided hard with the lockers. "I'll know if you aren't, Dean," the Alpha purred, bending down to growl the words into his ear and Dean shivered, eyes fluttering closed as he bared his throat on instinct. His entire body was trembling and he could feel his slick starting to soak through his clothes, and _God_, how could his own body betray him like this? "I'll see you tomorrow. And don't forget that essay."

And then, he was gone. Like the strings had been cut from him, Dean sank down onto the floor, leaning heavily on the lockers for support. He gasped, clutching at his own chest and staring at the plug in his other hand. He should throw it away – should tell Castiel to go fuck himself and that Dean doesn't need this shit from the Alpha and that when he gets his mate he'll make sure Castiel is the first on the guy's list. He should -.

Dean swallowed, sighing, and shoved the plug into the bottom of his bag and piled his notebooks and papers on top of it. He fled from the hallways soon after, not positive that he would remain unmolested should Castiel run into him a second time.

* * *

The scent of Dean's arousal teased at Castiel's nose all the way home – the Alpha smirked to himself, replaying over and over in his head how flushed the younger Omega had been, his weak attempts at pushing Castiel back and the fear in his eyes when he'd found he couldn't. Oh, yes, Dean was ripe for the picking and Castiel fully intended for _his _hand to be the one that plucked Dean from the grasp of other Alphas.

The news of this supposed _arranged mate_ enraged him, a low growl rumbling out of him before he could stop it. A couple of Beta girls had been walking the other way and they shied back at the sound, flushing and whispering under their breath as they passed Castiel – he didn't give them a second glance. Dean was _his, _damn it, and if he had to rip out the throat of this other Alpha and fuck Dean over his cooling corpse, he would make sure the Omega and everyone else knew it.

He had been patient, too – so damned patient, insinuating himself casually enough in Dean's life that the Omega's body would recognize his presence regardless of anything else. The kiss had been a little unplanned, sure, but there was no denying the results – Dean wanted him in body, if not yet in mind. Perhaps Castiel would have to butter him up a little more: after all, there was no fun in fucking an unwilling bitch. The thought of forcing himself upon Dean was one he would not entertain – it was sick, he thought, that for some Alphas it was the norm.

He'd just have to step up his plan. That was all. When Dean's eighteenth birthday hit it would only be a matter of time before the Omega went into heat and Castiel could claim him properly. He didn't have a lot of time, but Castiel prided himself on being flexible in the worst of circumstances.

His older brother was there to greet him when Castiel came home, and it took maybe two seconds – three? – before Gabriel's face split into a wide, smart-ass grin and he had an arm slung around Castiel's shoulders, dragging him into the living room before Castiel could even take off his shoes.

"Tell me what happened," Gabriel crowed with what could only be described as manic glee, golden eyes glowing with threads of Alpha red at the scent that must undoubtedly be strong enough on Castiel for him to sense. "Did my little bro finally get laid?"

"Go fuck yourself, Gabe," Castiel hissed in reply, turning his head to bite at Gabriel's shoulder until the older Alpha hissed and let him go. Castiel stood, brushing himself of the imaginary dirt that Gabriel's touch could conjure. "Unlike you, I only plan on fucking one Omega in my life."

"Ah." Gabriel's smirk grew in understanding – he knew of Castiel's obsession with the Winchester boy, all of their family did, but Gabriel had been the only one to take an active interest in it – for the rest, Dean was too young, or didn't strike their fancy. "He's turning eighteen soon, isn't he?" Castiel's lips pressed together and that was all the answer he needed. "Well, you're gonna wanna start scent-marking him, if he's ripe soon."

Castiel nodded, fingers flexing at the idea. "He's been matched already," he murmured, mostly to himself, but he knew Gabriel would hear if he cared to listen. "Don't know who to, though, but I'll let that son of a bitch claim Dean over my cold, dead body."

"Hey, no one's got a knot in him yet," came the reply, Gabriel's hand landing on Castiel's shoulder, nails curling hard enough that the sharp point of pain helped to center and ground the younger Alpha. "Just don't let yourself get carried away, 'kay? Dean's a good kid, and if you fuck him over, well, he's got an Alpha brother. Still a child, but when he gets older…"

"I know," Castiel replied irritably, brushing his brother's hand off. "I have no intention of hurting Dean."

Gabriel hummed, his eyes carefully searching his little brother's face, and Castiel bore the searching gaze readily, jaw clenched and chin tilted up in defiance. Finally Gabriel deflated with a roll of his eyes, and scratched a hand over the back of his head. "Alright, Cas, alright," he finally said, raising his hands in defeat and stepping back so that maybe the lines of red in his brother's eyes would fade. Castiel's shoulders slumped, sensing the submission in his older brother.

He knew Gabriel had his best interests at heart, really – Sam Winchester, even though he was still young, would likely grow up to be one powerful-as-Hell Alpha, if the look of his parents was anything to go by, and while Castiel would have maybe four or five years before he became a threat, if Castiel mistreated Dean – well, it sure as Hell wouldn't end well for one of them. Bound as Dean might be to Castiel at that point, no Omega could resist the demands of their family over that of their mate. It was stupid, and inconvenient, but it was true.

Not that Castiel intended to hurt Dean, or mistreat him in any way. No, that would be barbaric and cruel of him – not to mention the fact that he could never bring himself to harm the beautiful boy any more than he could allow him to go mated to another.

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, rubbing at the corners of his eyes as he sensed Gabriel leaving the room. He allowed himself to collapse back onto the couch, rubbing his hands upwards and through his hair. A week. He had one week – not even that, five days? – before Dean's eighteenth birthday, and if it meant he had to charm the sun from the sky, he would make Dean want him, need him, soak for him.

One way or another.

* * *

It was eleven at night before Dean finally finished both his and Castiel's assignments, and he felt exhausted. His encounter with the older Alpha had left him strung out and on edge, nervous at every creak of the floorboards or touch to his shoulder. He was sure, when he had come through the front door and Sam had greeted him, just slightly hesitating on the '…Hey, Dean', that Sam could smell the slick from him – slick that still hadn't stopped and he had been soaking into his underwear and jeans the entire way home and there was even a wet spot when he'd schlepped the clothes off and jumped into a shower.

It wasn't that Omegas were asexual before going into Heat, but there was definitely _something _about Alphas that kick-started whatever it was that made Omegas slick and fertile and everything else. Dean hadn't paid much attention in health class, granted, less interested in the humanities than the sciences as he was, but he knew what was happening on a chemical level – testosterone from Castiel, planting itself into Dean's mouth and his pores and his head until Dean's body came to associate the Alpha's presence with mating opportunities. It was terrifying, had Dean's hands shaking when he scrubbed at his skin like it was burning him and tried to think of distinctly _unsexy _thoughts until the scent of his body wash and shampoo had overridden the Alpha's scent.

It felt like forever when Dean's body had finally stopped and he was able to change into sweats and a baggy t-shirt that was freshly laundered and therefore smelled like _nothing_, but finally he had done it. And he'd skipped dinner, wolfing down a pop tart and Coke instead so that he would have time to finish Castiel's _Bullet in the Brain _essay. The assignment itself wasn't hard, but every time Dean thought of Castiel – of the Alpha's eyes fairly glowing in pleasure like they did whenever Dean was uncomfortable or nervous, of the way his mouth looked when he said Dean's name, of the heat of his body and the smell of his skin or -.

Dean's hand was clenched tight enough that his pencil broke. "Shit," he muttered, running a hand through his hair and sitting back. He could feel it again – the warm shiver running down his spine, pooling low in his gut. The fine tendrils of heat crawling across his skin, making his hands clench as he carefully set the broken pencil down.

He pursed his lips, fingertips drumming across his desk, and tipped his head back, eyes closed. Taking a few deep breaths, he tried to relax, to calm down the warmth thrumming under his skin and making him feel restless and tired at the same time – he wanted to sleep, so badly, but he could feel himself starting to respond to the thoughts of Castiel again, and there was no way in _Hell _he was risking another shower and garnering the suspicion of his family – _awkward as shit, _that's what that would be.

He could sleep naked, but again he'd probably stain the sheets and that would be just as awkward. If only there was a way…

Dean's eyes strayed to his bag, which had been dumped unceremoniously at the foot of his desk once he had retrieved his notes and books from inside it. Castiel's 'gift' was still inside, sitting there like a bad thought in the back of Dean's head.

Well. It would help with the slickness, wouldn't it? Wasn't meant to leak out around plugs – was why Alphas liked to use them on their Omegas between knotting, keep their spunk inside or whatever (What? He watched porn, give him a break).

Sucking in a breath through his teeth, Dean reached down to pull his bag into his lap, fishing through his notes, MP3 player and headphones, and other assorted crap before he found the thing. It felt just as weird and foreign to touch as it had before, and Dean gingerly look it out, dusted it off and set it upright on his desk.

It wasn't that large – or at least, didn't appear to be – but Dean's ass clenched at the idea of sticking something up there permanently. But even as he thought that, his body let out another traitorous trail of slick and he winced when he could feel it soaking into his clothes again. Better that, he supposed, than soaking through every clean pair of underwear he owned.

He signed and stood up, tucking it up the sleeve of his hoodie to hide it as he went to the bathroom across the hall. He washed it off of any fluff or other unidentifiable substances clinging to the surface, and set it down again as he stripped off his sweatpants and underwear. After another cursory wipe down and his thighs and ass, he couldn't delay it any longer.

Vaguely, when it was done and Dean had crept back to his bedroom, flicked off the light and slid under the covers, he was surprised at how easily the plug had gone in. If he laid down just right and didn't make any sudden movements, it was almost like it wasn't there at all. His body had accepted it almost eagerly, hole puffy and slick and easily parting under the gentle pressure from the tapered head.

The Omega sighed, glad at least that he wouldn't have to be in pain during the night.


	2. Chapter 2

He woke up soaked through anyway.

Dean was shuddering, clinging tightly to the bed sheets in an attempt to curl into them and never come back out, let them shield him from the outside world. His entire body was slicked with sweat, but Dean wasn't warm – it was like someone had dumped a bucket of icy water over him while he had slept without Dean noticing, and now he was shivering and sore. Every part of him hurt, every muscle felt tight and strained like Dean had underwent a giant growth spurt, and there was no relief for him. He tried stretching out as much as he could underneath the confines of his self-made cocoon, but every motion shafted pain up his spine and all it brought from him was a whimper and pathetic moan.

"Dean? Get up sweetie, you're going to be late for -." The sound of his mother's voice stopped, abruptly, and he could _hear _her sniff the air. "Oh my God. John! John!"

Dean moaned at the sound of his mother's voice – too high pitched, too panicked, and he felt himself go tense with fear. He craved the low, steady rumble of -.

Of who?

"John! Dean's gone into Heat!"

The word hit Dean like another bucket of water, and he gasped out in panic. Heat? No, no he couldn't be in Heat – he wasn't old enough yet, had barely ever touched an Alpha in his life. There should be no reason to -.

"Take Sam to school. I'll call…" And then the words were lost when Dean moaned pitifully again, clutching his hands to his head in an attempt to block out his mother's yelling. His body felt aching and empty, barren in a way he never knew a body could _feel_ – like someone had reached into him and ripped out his heart and lungs through his mouth. He was shivering uncontrollably and couldn't stop himself for Hell or high water, but at the same time the drag of his sheets against his sweaty skin made him feel like someone was tearing gouges into his thighs and stomach. It wasn't gentle and it sure as Hell wasn't pleasant and Dean was, quite honestly, terrified.

"Mom?" he hazarded, hoping that maybe someone could at least talk him through this, try and get him focused on something else. His body throbbed when he moved, and he moved at the feeling of the plug inside of him, juddering along his inner walls until he felt like sobbing because of the intense sensations. Stifling a cry behind his clenched teeth, he reached back behind himself and wrenched the thing out, and snarled at the pain and cry of _wrongness _that his body rewarded him with at that.

Dean felt like all he could do was sob, cringing at the feeling of the slick that the plug had kept inside of his body suddenly flooding out, until he felt like he was bathing in it, sticky and too-hot and gross against his skin.

He couldn't stay like this.

He couldn't hear anyone outside and didn't pause long enough to check, throwing his sheets off of his body so violently that he could hear the discarded plug clatter to the floor, and he stumbled to his knees on his bedroom floor – wet skin scraping raw against the carpet and soaking it and staining it. With a low grunt he forced himself upright, braced against the door while he tried to figure out how his feet worked again, and then managed somehow to make it to the shower.

The warm water felt like nirvana against his skin, suddenly a gentle touch where there had been nothing before, and Dean wanted to cry with relief at the feeling of it as he collapsed on the floor of the shower and let the water wash over him. He didn't know how long he stayed like that, head bowed and water soaking deeper into his skin than his slick had – long enough to realize he was still wearing his shirt and boxers and they were becoming heavy and waterlogged around his body. He swallowed, pressing his lips together and clenching his eyes tightly shut.

This couldn't be happening – he was too young to go into Heat. Like, one in a hundred Omegas ever went into Heat before they were eighteen and had officially met and been courted or caught by their mate (either an arranged one or one that had chased them down) – figures Dean would be the lucky one percent. The thought made him laugh – a harsh sound into the curl of his knuckles. _God_, what if he had been at school when this happened?

What if Castiel -?

"Dean?" The Omega's eyes opened, head ducked down to avoid getting water in them and he grunted in acknowledgement of his mother's voice. "Dean, honey, we've got to take Sam to school. I'm gonna visit your aunt for the day until you settle. We've called your mate's family and he's on his way. You okay to wait it out?"

_God_, how embarrassing was it for his Alpha mother to have to baby talk him through this? He wasn't some fucking kid. "Got it, mom," he gritted out in reply, closing his eyes again and tilting his head back until he rested against the edge of the shower.

"Okay. I've left some water and crackers by the door. Try and stay hydrated." He could feel his mother's angst and worry from where he was in the shower, and while he wanted nothing more than for her to leave and let him wallow in his misery, her absence would mean his mate had come and that meant he would be trapped in a house with a man he had never actually met – never tested for the initial chemistry or even knew the name of. His parents were traditionalists in that sense – for them, Omegas were to trust their parents until they were officially 'given' to their mates on their eighteenth birthday. He knew he hadn't been given away yet, but he didn't see an option here that ended up with him getting out of his Heat scott-free.

He breathed out, scrubbing his hands through his hair, and shucked off the sodden clothes, throwing them onto the floor from behind the shower curtain. Dean figured that at this point trying to actually clean himself was kind of redundant, and the rush of water had managed to cool him down and made him feel marginally better. Maybe better enough to actually reclothe himself, put that damned plug back in and function for long enough to actually learn his mate's name.

He got about two steps towards the shower door before the scent hit him.

Oh… "No," he whispered, stepping back. _Fuck_, no…

His body went into open rebellion – every step he took back made him feel like his very skin was trying to separate from his body, and with a shiver he reached down and hurriedly redressed himself in the wet t-shirt and boxers he had retreated to the shower in. They were turning cold and the wetness was chafing against his skin, but it was either that or face the Alpha outside unclothed, and that was unthinkable to Dean. He wouldn't.

"Dean?" the Alpha murmured, his voice low and almost _concerned_-sounding, and Dean shook his head because it felt like the empty, barren sensation inside of him was _throbbing _at the sound of his voice, and his scent, and God, no, no no no -. "Dean? I can't hear the shower anymore. Are you alright?"

"Stay the fuck away from me," Dean snarled, all of his previous submission forgotten because here, he was safe – the door was locked and he could wait this out. He could definitely-maybe-not wait this out. "Get out of my house!"

"I can't do that," Castiel replied after a long moment, and Dean wanted to sob.

"You fucking psychopath! Were you just _waiting _for the opportunity to -."

Castiel sighed, and there was a soft thump against the door that Dean imagined was Castiel resting his forehead against the door. "Your parents called me."

At those words, Dean's blood ran cold. "No," he whispered. No. _No_. This _asshole _could not be his mate – surely his parents had better taste than that? Why would they match him with such an arrogant, dickheaded bastard of a -. "You're fucking lying."

Castiel chuckled. "You get a dirty mouth when you're freaking out. That's cute." A pause then, Dean trying to stop himself hyperventilating and trying to stop his body from going into all-out rebellion against his brain, because his hands were shaking and he felt like he was going to collapse and beg Castiel to fuck him and that just _could not happen. _God_damn_it. "Open the door, Dean."

The words came with a low growl, and it sent a shudder straight through the Omega. "I don't want to," he said, but his fingers were already reaching for the door, curling around the handle before he realized just what he was doing.

"I promise," Castiel murmured, low and sincere, "I can control myself. Let's talk."

Dean sighed, tilting his head back to look up at the ceiling, and let himself relax. It was difficult, the strong scent of the Alpha immersing itself into his bones until all he could think was Castiel's name, but he opened the door handle anyway because he knew he couldn't stay in the bathroom forever.

Castiel had moved back to allow the door to open, but all the same Dean flinched at the proximity. There was almost no blue left to Castiel's eyes anymore, all of it red now, the Alpha's jaw clenched tightly shut, his fingernails digging into the outside of his thighs to keep himself reaching out for Dean. The Omega was sure there were threads – if not whole chunks – of gold in his own eyes, eclipsing the green, and he was sure he looked no better: face and chest red, fabric chafing around his neck and thighs, slick and water soaking him through. God, how were Alphas even attracted to this?

"So," he finally said, when the silence had stretched on just a little too long, and Castiel's shoulders slumped at the sound of his voice. "You."

"Me," Castiel replied. It was weird, because the only side of Castiel that Dean had known was the asshole, pushy dick of an Alpha who demanded Dean did his homework and used his strength and presence to cow Dean into submitting to him, and it seemed so _weird_ that the one opportunity that Castiel had to actually, legally _force _Dean to submit to him in every possible way – was the one he wasn't taking. "I didn't even know that… I guess it makes sense."

"What makes sense?"

"The draw," Castiel said, gesturing between them. "My brothers always said they knew their mates as soon as they saw them – knew from birth, or before and just…_wanted_. I…" He sighed again, nostrils flaring as he blew out, and shifted his weight, powerful gaze finally breaking from Dean's. "I wish I had known. Maybe then I wouldn't have been such a dick to you."

"You're gonna blame _my _folks for your attitude?" Dean asked with a raised eyebrow, unable to fathom the sheer double standard he was being faced with. "For everything you've done to me?" Anger was rising in him now, making him feel strong – seeing Castiel's hesitance, the downward tilt of his eyes and the almost hunched posture, Dean felt very suddenly powerful, and in control, even though with the step he took towards Castiel his body trembled with want and his knees almost gave out. "You've made my life _Hell_," Dean snarled, jabbing an accusing finger towards Castiel, "and I'll be _damned_ if I ever mate with you."

Castiel's gaze snapped up, anger flaring there, carefully reined back in behind his clenched jaw, and Dean could see that it took the Alpha a large amount of restraint to keep himself back. "And what gave you the right," the Alpha snarled, no blue left to his eyes now – only red, faintly glowing and hot. "Look at you – smart, gorgeous… Do you know how many Alphas I've heard talking about how much they want to get their hands on you? How many I've -." He stopped, fingers curling almost to a fist before he forced them to relax, and Dean took a step back, eyes widening as he realized that Castiel _might _have done something – if he was so aggressive with Dean, a mere Omega and no threat to him, then how hard must he have fought against another Alpha? "And now, today, I learn that you're actually mine?" He smiled – not the sharp-edged smile when Dean was pressed against the lockers and struggling to breathe – softly, blue very briefly returning to his irises in a rare display of control. "I am the luckiest Alpha in the world."

Dean snarled. "You're an asshole."

"I'm willing to work on that," Castiel replied, tilting his head to one side. He took a step forward and Dean shied back, unwilling to give him even a slight edge. "I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make it up to you and more, Dean. I knew you were mine from the second I saw you at school, and I will do whatever it takes to prove that fact to you." Dean cocked his head to one side, swallowing. "You're _mine_, Dean."

"Not on your life," Dean croaked, throat suddenly dry and raspy. He swallowed again, rubbing at his throat, and took another step back. He needed distance now – he was in no condition to make any kind of informed decision right now, and if he stayed and talked much longer, talking was going to turn into touching into kissing into fuck-.

"Dean." Castiel's eyes weren't on his anymore, but his body, brow furrowed in concern. "When was the last time you ate?"

"I -." And Dean stopped, because he honestly couldn't remember anything more substantial than a pop tart since yesterday's lunch.

"You should take better care of yourself – it's your first Heat, after all." And Dean couldn't think of a single damned thing to say to that, because where in the Hell did this considerate Alpha Castiel come from? "Dean -." Castiel had stepped forward and Dean shied away, body shuddering from chill and desire and Castiel stopped. The red in his eyes was still far too prominent for Dean's liking. "Shit, okay. Okay – calm down, I promise I'm not going to hurt you."

Dean swallowed, realizing his hands were shaking, and curled them into the wet edge of his t-shirt. "I'm not scared of you," he whispered, voice not even worth a damn at this point.

Castiel didn't comment on it – "I'm gonna go get you something to eat and drink, okay? Get dressed – something comfortable, alright? Please?" Dean fought back the instinctive urge to snap that Castiel wasn't his Goddamned mother, but his mother had left him with this arrogant prick so maybe Dean should just keep quiet – he could play along, act all nice willing Omega and then bolt at the first opportunity.

Yeah. That sounded like a good enough plan.

He nodded after another moment, and Castiel's shoulders slumped and he smiled like he hadn't actually expected Dean to assent to it, and turned and disappeared around the corner that led to the stairs. Dean felt like collapsing as soon as Castiel was out of sight, nails digging into the frame of his bedroom door tight enough that he could feel the sharp edge of splinters digging in underneath. His entire body trembled with pain and need – need that he knew Castiel could and would eagerly satisfy, and it seemed as though his very being was punishing him for denying it that.

Perhaps it was. Damn, he really should have paid attention in sex ed. or something.

He hurriedly shoved himself into his bedroom, closing the door behind him although his mother had removed the lock after Dean had accidentally almost electrocuted himself and they hadn't been able to reach him for hours until his dad had come home, so there was next to no barrier that meant anything to the Alpha downstairs. With a heavy sigh, wondering just what he must have done wrong in a previous life to deserve this, he threw the wet clothes off of his body and quickly pulled on a pair of thick, warm sweatpants and an oversized hoodie from dad's glory days over that. With the Heat rushing through him, he quickly felt as though he was sweating through the clothes, but they were bulky and, he was sure, would decrease the sex appeal – if there even was any – of his body to Castiel. Even though his thighs were already slicked again and sweat had broken out across his forehead, it was worth it to gain even a little bit of a barrier between him and the Alpha.

Dean knew he could run, then – he'd slipped out of his bedroom window enough times to know he could, and he could drop down to the front lawn in relative quiet, and make a break for it before Castiel even realized he was gone. He could do it.

He lifted his head towards the window, hearing Castiel's footsteps returning, nostrils flaring wide at the new push of scent from the Alpha.

The window was right there. He could run – get a head start to his friends' house, or his aunt's, and beg his mother to call off the match and find him another mate or let Dean choose for himself or -.

The bed dipped with Castiel's weight, and Dean sighed, hanging his head again. Probably just as well, he thought – who know who Dean might run into on the way, who would be affected by the pheromones that felt like they were pouring out of him.

A peanut butter and jelly sandwich appeared in his field of vision and, reminded strongly by his stomach just how much he had neglected it; he reached for the sandwich, and gave a grunt of acknowledgement that was not quite dismissive and not quite thankful. Castiel said nothing, but Dean could feel the weight of his eyes on the side of his face as the Omega ate – and damn it was a good sandwich, the perfect amount of jelly and Castiel had used the creamy peanut butter instead of the extra chunky that mom and Sam liked – and remained wordless when he handed Dean a full cup of water to wash it down with.

Truth be told, the meal went a long way towards settling Dean's stomach, and calming his mind down from the borderline panic it had maintained since he'd woken up that morning.

"I don't like you," he finally said, not looking at Castiel but gazing outward.

The Alpha sighed. "I'm aware."

"I never got why you always went after me – I mean, there were far easier targets, only children or people in your own class." At that, Dean turned to face Castiel, and his calm essentially flew out the window when he saw just how brightly the red was glowing in the Alpha's eyes – he decided that Castiel looked a lot more handsome, a lot more pleasant, when the blue was there. "And some of the things you'd want from me…"

He thought of the plug and bit his lip, cheeks reddening. With a shift of his foot he could feel his foot knock against the cool, sticky plastic wrapped in his messy sheets. The whole room reeked of Dean's pheromones and it occurred to him, perhaps too late, that this was the wrong place to try and have this heart-to-heart.

Castiel made a soft, annoyed sound, his fingers flexing next to his thigh. "I'm not very good at – well, at expressing myself," he finally admitted, eyes darting away to the floor, then back up to Dean's face. "At first, I tried to be subtle – I sat close to your lunch table and made sure to walk by your locker several times a day so that my scent would be close to you. But you were oblivious, and I felt like I had to…be more forward -."

"By harassing me?" Dean snapped, voice a low growl that he couldn't help. "There are a helluva lot better ways to try and get my attention than being a complete asshole, you know that? I -."

"I know, Dean," Castiel interrupted, his hand suddenly flying to Dean's thigh and gripping tight and the Omega went still because _fuck _they were touching now and Castiel's heat was bleeding through his sweats and suddenly Dean's heart was beating way too loud. "Please, believe me when I say that I only wanted you to see me the way –. But I had horrible role models when –. I'm not excusing my behavior, not anymore, I promise – but."

"But what?" Dean asked, because Castiel had fallen silent and he felt like he couldn't breathe.

For a long moment, Castiel remained silent, until Dean couldn't take it anymore and forcefully reached down to remove Castiel's hand from his thigh, and the Alpha sighed and let him, shoulders slumping in defeat. "Have I ruined this?" he asked, eyes finally flashing up to meet Dean's, and the Omega could not see a single thread of red in them, instinct overcome by concern and sorrow. "Is there no way I can change your mind about me?"

Dean bit his lip. He wanted to say 'No' – say that Castiel had burned any and all bridges between them and there was no way in Hell that Dean would ever want or see him that way – _ever_. And he knew that this could be some elaborate play to lower Dean's guard and win him over until the law took away any chance he had of getting out of this easily.

"You triggered this," he finally said, trying to look anywhere but the Alpha's face so that he wouldn't see the reaction there. "You – when you kissed me. And the…the…"

"You used it?" Unbidden, a flare of red crossed Castiel's eyes, gut clenching in excitement and arousal at the thought. _Fuck_, Dean was so obedient – how could he not see that they were meant to be together? Contrary to popular belief, Omegas didn't bow down for just any Alpha with a big enough knot. He blew out a frustrated breath through his nose and forced himself to remain silent – Dean's scent was a constant teasing pressure in his mind, a buzzing at the base of his skull that was screaming _he's there, he's right there, take him fuck him knot him mate mate mate -._

Dean nodded, snapping Castiel out of his thoughts. "Yeah. I was, um." He could feel his entire face reddening in embarrassment, but Castiel was watching him so raptly, as though Dean was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. "I couldn't concentrate on -. Really. So I."

He swallowed, and stopped, but Castiel understood. Or at least, he could guess what Dean was trying very hard not to say. "You got wet thinking about me?" he asked, voice lowering.

It made Dean shiver. "Yeah, when you kind of mauled me in school," he snapped back, hoping that Castiel would at least feel guilty about that. It wasn't _okay_, and he was sure that if he'd told his father, mother or Sam about any of it they'd have run Castiel out of town or killed him before he crossed the border. Dean's family was protective like that. "Guess my body kind of took that choice away."

He could feel the Heat building up in him again – with the food, his body had energy to focus more on his breeding and mating urges now, and with every inhale more of Castiel's scent was coating the inside of his mouth, until it felt like every part of the air was the Alpha. Dean's body clenched, new slick leaking thick and warm out of him, and his fingertips were shaking so badly he was amazed they hadn't fallen off.

"I want to make it up to you, Dean," Castiel whispered, and Dean snorted in derision. "I mean it." He reached forward again – slower this time, giving Dean an opportunity to push him away again, and for the life of him Dean couldn't figure out why he let the touch land, why he shivered and bit his lip hard and spread his legs just a little to let Castiel's fingers curl into his inner thigh, trailing along the dark, wet edge of the stain. "If I had known, I would have done this in such a different way – I thought you would be impressed by strength, or power, and I was wrong. I see that now."

"You do impress me," Dean replied, staring at where Castiel's hand was against his thigh, fingers splayed wide to make his hand look larger. "You're very… Yeah." He blushed again, and Castiel smiled in a way that made his blue-now eyes glow.

"I want to prove myself to you, Dean."

"Okay," the Omega replied, breathing out, and Castiel blinked in surprise. "Then leave."

The silence stretched on a little too long again, Castiel gone tense once more, and Dean had to reach down to forcibly remove Castiel's hand from his thigh. "I want a mate who can control himself, and not be a total dick – so, I want you to leave." Another pause, in which Castiel didn't move, and Dean was starting to get nervous. "Unless you are a complete asshole and control and consent don't mean shit to you."

"I would _never_ -." Castiel cut himself off, then, pushing himself to his feet, and Dean blushed and averted his gaze from the very obvious hard-on that Castiel had underneath his jeans. After another moment, he turned and headed for Dean's bedroom door. "I…guess I'll see you around then, Dean."

"Patience, Cas," Dean replied, smirking to himself because he was _forcing _an Alpha to leave – him, an Omega, had an Alpha who would obey his desires and leave, even when he was in fucking _Heat_. God. "You'll have to be patient if you're serious about me."

"Very," the Alpha murmured before Dean's door shut behind him, and Dean wasn't sure if he meant 'very patient' or 'very serious', but he decided not to question it. He wanted to open the window, but that would mean broadcasting his situation to the entire neighborhood, and just because he didn't want Castiel with him right then didn't mean he wanted some other Alpha's company.

No, he'd just have to make do for now. Then, after his Heat was over he'd be eighteen, and he and Castiel could try again, for real this time.

How bad could it be?

* * *

"Oh my _God_. You're fuckin' _whipped_, Novak!"

"Shut the fuck up," Castiel snarled in reply, shoving at the shoulder of his friend and teammate. "Like you were any better when you met your Beta."

"_Sandra_," Balthazar reminded him, and Castiel rolled his eyes. "And she doesn't go into Heat – you had him, _right there_, ripe for the picking, and you just walked away? What kind of backwards Alpha are you?"

"The kind who can still kick your ass seven ways to Sunday, bitch, and don't you forget it."

Four days. It had been _four days_, and Dean's birthday was tomorrow. His Heat would end three days after that, if statistics and past trends in Omegas was anything to go by. Castiel couldn't take one step through the school hallways without turning his head just so, catching teasing traces of his Omega's alluring scent, only to remember that the boy would be nowhere in sight. It was driving him crazy, not knowing where Dean was or where to find him – although logically of course he _knew _Dean was at his house, it didn't mean he didn't have that split second of panic before remembering.

"Hey."

A wave of _Dean_ hit him then – similar, vague underlays of the Omega's scent that smelled just like he remembered, and also foreign and sharp. He turned towards the sound of the voice, blinking in surprise when the Alpha he came face-to-face with was none other than Sam, Dean's brother. He was smaller than Castiel, but not by as much as Castiel would have liked, and he reeked of Dean's Heat – of course, they were brothers and so Sam wasn't sexually attracted to Dean's pheromones like Castiel was, but the presence of so many after so long without had Castiel's fingers tightening around the strap of his schoolbag, his mouth watering and nostrils flaring wide.

"Uh," he said, unsure why suddenly Sam Winchester was coming up to him in the middle of the locker rooms when Castiel had barely ever seen him around school before. "Hey."

"Castiel, right?" The older Alpha nodded. "My mom told me you're meant to be Dean's match," Sam said, cocking his head to one side, small threads of red in his own eyes that made Castiel want to react in the same way. But he forced himself to remain controlled – control, Dean liked control. He nodded again instead. "Why aren't you with him, then?"

"He sent me away," Castiel replied, perhaps more defensively than he'd intended, but people were starting to watch and reputation was pretty damn important in a school like this, and people didn't need to know that Castiel rolled over for his Omega and didn't assert his right as Dean's mate to deal with his Heat. "We were essentially strangers."

"No," Sam murmured, eyes narrowing. "I know your scent."

He didn't say anything else, but his silence made Castiel tilt his chin up in defiance, small threads of red branching through his eyes, jaw clenching. Sam pressed his lips together, gaze appraising, and nodded once to himself.

"It's fading away," he told Castiel. "Dean should be back in school tomorrow."

Tomorrow. For his birthday. Castiel would get to see him. He smiled despite himself: "Thank you for telling me."

"I thought you might be worried about him," Sam replied, and there was something in his tone that made Castiel think he was being accused of something. "Dean didn't agree with me." With that, he turned on his heel and walked right back out of the locker rooms, leaving Castiel and Balthazar to stare after him.

Balthazar whistled low. "You can practically _taste _the Alpha coming off of him," he noted, and Castiel sighed.

"Dean's the same," he said, earning a curious look from his friend. "Willful. I kept getting the feeling I was being blamed for something."

"Well. Duh," Balthazar said, like it was obvious. "You left your mate – his _brother_ – alone for his very first Heat ever? Cas, come on, I know you and school are like cats and dogs, but you gotta've learned that Heats for Omegas suck the most during their first year. And you just left him."

"He sent me away!" Castiel bit back, but without as much conviction. He did remember, vaguely hearing the words taught to him during the lecture while he was busy fantasizing about bending Dean over the teacher's desk and fucking him blind. "I…fuck. I've really fucked this up, haven't I?" And Balthazar made a face at him, as though if Castiel were any more idiotic it might be borderline cute. "But he doesn't want me there, Bal – said so himself. How do I help him without -?"

"My mate doesn't go into Heat, Cas," Balthazar replied. "How the fuck would I know."

Castiel grunted, shouldering his sports bag so it sat higher against his neck. "You're useless," he said, and Balthazar merely bared his teeth in a shit-eating grin, earning another eye-roll from Castiel as he pushed through the swinging doors that led to the school proper, and out towards his car.

* * *

Mary sent Sam up to Dean with a glass of orange juice, a bottle of water and some tomato-rice soup later that evening. Since Dean's rejection of his mate, he hadn't been able to keep much down by way of food, but dehydration was still a real threat and so his parents tried to make sure he had everything that he would need. His dad had begun to take half-days during the week so that he would be home in the afternoons with his wife just in case Dean needed anything and she was busy with her own tasks.

Sam knocked softly, but there was no answer, and when he pushed inside it seemed that he had caught Dean in the middle of the one of the fits of restless sleep an unmated Omega could steal during the harsh pulses of desire coursing through them. He scented the air carefully, trying to figure out if at least Dean's Heat was fading, and was pleased to find that the pheromone levels were far less potent than they had been this morning. Dean was edging towards the clear.

He set the food down by Dean's bed, intent on leaving them for Dean to wake up to, when his brother shifted at the sound of the clinking bowl and glasses, and he gave a low sound that Sam had never heard him make before – desperate and pained: "Cas?"

Sam wanted to rip that Alpha apart – damn him for leaving Dean like this. "Nah, it's just me." He sat down by Dean's side, watching his brother as Dean rolled over onto his back, breathing heavily and staring up at the ceiling.

Dean looked like shit, to put it plainly. His skin was shiny with sweat, and he looked like he'd gotten maybe two hours of sleep in the past four days – dark circles shadowed his eyes and they had dulled and were almost completely threaded with gold. He did not have the healthy glow of a mated and satisfied Omega – he looked sick, grey and haggard, and Sam had never seen his brother like this, and he never wanted to again.

Dean blinked, and his eyes seemed to focus and clear when he looked at Sam. He sat up and caught sight of the food and drink, and grimaced as he shifted upright to be able to eat, slicking against thighs that were now chafing and raw because of his tender skin. He reached for the glass of water and downed it in three big swallows – Sam almost warned him to slow down, because the water was cold and that couldn't be good for his stomach, but really at this point there wasn't much more that could happen to make Dean feel worse.

"Thanks," Dean finally said, pulling the soup into his lap and taking a few tentative bites as well. Soon though, he grimaced and set it aside again, instead pulling the cup of orange juice close and nursing it between both hands.

"It's him, isn't it," Sam asked after a while, already sure of the answer. Dean's gold eyes flashed his way. "The Alpha…Castiel. You've come home smelling like him before."

Dean knew enough about his brother to know that Sam was waiting for him to fill in the blank, spill all his secrets out, but Dean swallowed and remained silent. "He lied to me," his little brother continued after another pause, when he sensed that Dean would say no more on the matter: "Said you sent him away, but that you didn't know each other. I know he lied, because I've smelled him around our house – around you – before."

Again, Sam paused, waiting for Dean to fold under the weight of his perception. But Dean only had to bow for two Alphas in his life, and until Sam turned eighteen there would not be a third. "I didn't know him," the Omega murmured, taking a sip of juice. It was cool and sweet and just what he needed.

"Dean, his scent -."

"You gonna listen to your nose, Sammy, or to me?" Dean demanded, eyes narrowing, upper lip curling back in threat.

"You're _sick_, Dean," Sam snapped in reply, hissing out the word. "If he can help you -."

"Sam." The tone of Dean's voice brought him up short. "I've had enough outta you. Dad is respecting my wishes, and so is Castiel. If they can keep their distances then so can you." He took another drink, sighing heavily – Sam was looking at Dean like he would turn night into day if it meant Dean would get better, would let him in, and even if he were an Alpha Dean doubts he would do anything but melt under that stare. "Castiel was a complete asshole to me, and tried to use his strength and his power to get my attention. He knows now that that is not what I want in a mate." Another drink – Dean's throat had gone dry, thinking about Castiel. It seemed that the longer his Heat went on for, the less Dean could remember the asshole Castiel had been, the more he could only recall Castiel's confession and the fact that Dean still hadn't caught a whiff of him in four days and he was respecting Dean's wishes for space. "I'm giving him another chance, so that when I go into Heat next time, and I'm actually eighteen and it'll mean something, I can make the conscious decision to forgive him for that and instead know that he's capable of, you know, not being a dick."

Sam sighed out, frustrated and short. "There's no reason to not let him help you now, though," he said – like a dog with a bone, Sam was. "Like you said, it doesn't mean shit 'til you're eighteen, so why not let him help you now and _then _make him earn it?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Sam," he said, shaking his head. It was all he said; Sam's name a sigh of exasperation and amusement all at once. Alphas couldn't understand, he supposed, what went on through an Omega's mind even at their most lucid of moments, let alone during their Heats. If he let Castiel in once, with no sign that Castiel could and would change his behavior, who could say the Alpha would have any reason to change? And, desperate as he was, Dean was pretty sure that he would let Castiel in once and damn everything else, because he would never want to lose it again.

His little brother took it as a sign to leave, and left to refill Dean's water glass, bringing it back before bidding Dean a good night. The water and juice had made Dean feel a lot better, but he still couldn't stomach the thought of eating anything and so he left the soup discarded and settled back down onto his bed. His sheets and mattress were completely soaked through, and despite his core temperature sky-rocketing, he was shivering and cold without a body to warm him.

Closing his eyes, Dean bit his lip to stop his sounds when he reached down into his sweatpants and wrapped a hand around his cock. It felt like he'd been hard since the first morning – no matter how many times he wrung a desperate orgasm from himself, he never flagged. His hole was puffy and sore from shoving his fingers inside, twisting them for several rough, unskilled jabs towards his prostate to bring himself off, and still it felt like he had done nothing. He whimpered at the rough feel of his slick-wet hand rubbing up and down his shaft: he was so sensitive, each touch felt like a stick of red-hot pain right through his spine and his head, but he couldn't bring himself to stop. He wanted something bigger inside of him, a rough hand on the back of his neck and warm breath against his shoulders. His body craved a knot, stretching him wide, warm seed coating his insides to sate the Heat wreaking havoc inside of him. _God, _how badly he wanted, needed it.

"Cas," he whispered, hating the name as it spilled from him and yet loving it at the same time. He rolled over onto his stomach, arching up just enough that he had room to continue stroking himself, and closed his eyes as he buried his face in the pillow. He already knew firsthand what Castiel felt like, how strong his body was and how easily he could hold Dean down – how it felt to have Castiel's nails biting into him, strong warm fingers splayed wide over his thighs and the Alpha's warm breath against his throat. With ease he called those things to mind again, this time without the brutality that he had thought Castiel was solely capable of. He imagined Castiel kissing him, one hand curling around the back of his neck but not tightening, blunt nails scraping across the nape of his neck in a soothing gesture. He imagined Castiel arching up against him, "_Cas_", fisting his hands in Dean's sheets because the Omega would tell him to keep his Goddamned hands to himself and Castiel _would_, just because Dean asked him to. _"Fuck, Cas, please…" _He thought about Castiel's eyes, of watching the blue in them slowly fade out and be overcome by red, only for the Alpha to force himself back from that edge of feral freedom for Dean's sake. "Alpha!" Dean bit the knuckles of his free hand, shuddering and clenching his eyes tightly shut as he spilled over his hand to the mental image of Castiel sinking into him, arms wrapped tight around Dean and holding him through it as he forced his knot inside.

When Dean breathed out, he felt like he'd been holding his breath forever, and he made a soft, pained sound as he carefully withdrew his tacky hand from his sweats, pulling out a fresh baby wipe from the box by his bed (given to him by his mother, again, and Dean had no idea how he would look her in the eye after this) and wiping his hands on it, before taking a second and wiping down his face.

It was the first time Dean had actively allowed Castiel into one of his fantasies, and like a traitor he could feel his body begin to cool after that most recent orgasm – maybe his acceptance had quieted the demand of the Heat, maybe it was just coincidence, Dean didn't care. All he knew was that he had just had one of the most powerful orgasms of his life to the thought of one of the people he hated most shoving a knot into him.

"Fuck," he whispered, curling his hand into a fist and pressing the heel of his hand against his eyes. Well, at least it couldn't get any worse.

* * *

It took Castiel until third period to figure out that Dean wasn't coming into school that day, either.

The school no longer held traces of the boy's familiar scent for the Alpha, and his locker hadn't been touched all day so far as he could tell. When he tried to find Sam Winchester, the younger Alpha had similarly seemed to disappear into the woodworks, and Castiel didn't want to worry himself, but Sam had said Dean would be back in school tomorrow – today, his birthday was today and Dean wasn't in school still.

So had something gone wrong? Had Sam's nose overestimated the speed of his brother's recovery?

Castiel made it until lunch before he couldn't wait anymore – he _had _to know.

Castiel had been to the Winchester house maybe once in his life before Dean's Heat had hit, and that was because the Winchesters and his father had been in contention for it – but Castiel had too many brothers and the house could comfortably hold four, not seven like his family had, so they'd lost it. He had always liked the house – brushed his fingers over the bannister leading upstairs and could smell this faint scent that smelled like home and, well, perfection. He realized now that it must have been Dean's scent he'd smelled, when the boy's family also came looking at the house. Even then he'd known.

It didn't look any different when he pulled up on the curb and killed the engine. Why it should, Castiel couldn't say, but he felt like _something _should have changed, because Castiel's life had. The boy that he had been borderline obsessed with, and treated the entirely wrong way because of it, blamed for his obsession and adoration and _affection_, had turned eighteen today. The house should reflect that.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself, and got out of the car. The closer he got to the house, the more he imagined he could feel Dean, as though the boy was standing right next to him – that was, he knew, completely insane, but it did help to center and ground him long enough to take a deep breath and raise his knuckles to knock on the door.

For a long moment, there was no sound from within nor any indication that someone was heading for the door, and Castiel thought for a moment that maybe there was no one home, but then it opened and Castiel tilted his head up to look into the face of John Winchester.

He blinked in surprise. "Castiel," he said, opening the door further. "Come on in."

"…Is that wise?" Castiel asked, hesitating over the threshold, because if Dean had taken a turn for the worse then Castiel had no idea if his control would extend itself again. It had been Hell resisting Dean the first time, but even from here he could smell the pheromones and they would have had days to soak into the Omega and his house.

John smiled a little. "Dean's Heat has passed," he said, gesturing for Castiel to come inside once more, and the younger Alpha obeyed because it would be rude to keep refusing, and the longer the door was open the more time Dean's pheromones had a chance to permeate into the neighborhood outside and Castiel would _not _allow an Alpha to come sniffing around what was _his_. "We're just giving him another day to sleep it off. It, ah, hit him pretty hard."

Castiel swallowed, lowering his eyes as the guilt hit him again. John's voice held very little judgment from what Castiel could tell, but that didn't mean he was happy with or agreed with Castiel's decision to obey Dean's wishes and leave him alone – or if he knew anything about it.

"Is he okay?" Castiel asked, unable to hide the worry from his voice. Now that he was here, could _smell _just how potent Dean's pheromones were, he felt like a complete ass for obeying and leaving Dean alone for so long, without a word or a call or visit. God, he felt like some shitty Alpha who dumped his mate as soon as they wouldn't put out – he wasn't _like _that, but he felt just about as low. Dean deserved better – a mate who would give him space but also provide support, and Castiel hadn't done that.

John smiled slightly. He looked weary and tired with worry, and Castiel had to wonder just how bad of a shape Dean _had _been in to make the strong man look like that. "He's been better, but at least he's eating again now and he managed to sleep all through the night last night."

"It's only been five days," Castiel murmured, looking up towards the stairs, nostrils flaring as he scented the air. "Is that something to be worried about?"

John shrugged one shoulder. "I had a girlfriend way back before I met Mary – she'd have two weeks one cycle, three days the next, and never spaced evenly apart." He shrugged again, rubbing his palm over his mouth. "Every Omega's different, I guess." Then, he leveled his gaze at Castiel, and the younger Alpha had the very sudden empathy with an ant under a magnifying glass. "One thing's for sure, I sure as Hell didn't leave her alone to suffer it out. Which leads to the question of just what kind of man my son's been matched with."

Castiel pressed his lips together, forcing himself to remain calm. His fingers twitched by his sides as he looked John over.

"Mary seems to think you and Dean are a fine match," John continued after a long moment when it was clear that Castiel wasn't going to answer. "But, see, I'm not so sure. I remember getting called to the Principal's Office about a fight my son got into, and I'm almost positive your name came up."

Castiel barely stifled his growl.

"Now, granted, Sam's a hot head so I'm not going to say your involvement and his were the same, but I gotta wonder what kind of Alpha snaps on his teammates for no discernible reason."

"Mister Winchester," Castiel replied, slowly and softly to try and keep his voice under control. He lifted his chin in defiance at John's raised eyebrow. "I will make it no secret: I have wanted Dean since the moment I saw him. It seemed that others did, too." John's eyes darkened, a small flicker of red passing over them in a brief, protective instinct. "I wanted to be sure that it was understood between us – my teammates, my classmates, and anyone else who I heard speaking about Dean – that he was off-limits." He cocked his head to one side, shoulders rolling. "Some of them had to be properly convinced. I'll not deny it, nor will I pretend like I am ashamed. I would do anything to protect Dean."

The older man raised an eyebrow. "He's been sick and in pain for the past four days," he said, making Castiel's jaw clench. "Seems like you've got a lot of instinct in you, son. Where was it when we called for you?"

"Controlled," Castiel replied tightly, fingers flexing again. "Dean didn't want me there – he didn't know me as anything more than a presence at school. We want to know each other better before committing to anything." He paused, eyes narrowing when John's expression didn't change. "Would you rather I force myself on him?"

The look on John's face gave him all the answer he needed, and Castiel just managed to stifle the urge to bare his teeth at the older Alpha. "Dean is the most amazing, incredible person I have ever met, Mister Winchester, and I'm not going to fuck up what I have with him. I came here to make sure he was alright – maybe a few days too late, but at least I showed up. I think that says all you need to know about me." John blinked, smirking a little and nodding his head, and Castiel took a deep, steadying breath. He could feel heat behind his eyes that meant the red was showing through and did his best to stifle it back down. "Now, Sir, with your permission, I want to see my mate."

They stared at each other for some time, John's eyes appraising and calculative, before he shrugged one shoulder again in a gesture that Castiel was really starting to hate, and gestured towards the stairs. "By all means," he muttered, going further into the kitchen and pouring himself a glass of water.

Castiel knew enough to recognize when he was being dismissed, and so he nodded, pressing his lips together, and all but ran up to Dean's room. Neither Mary nor Sam were in the house, as far as he could tell, but Castiel had to stop anyway when he reached the landing outside of Dean's room.

He felt like he could collapse from the smell. Almost at once he could feel his cock hardening, his mouth dry, and the heat slammed into the backs of his eyes without warning. He swallowed, curling his fingers into fists to try and ground himself in the bite of his nails, and took a deep breath through his mouth. Good _God_, his memory hadn't done Dean's scent justice – the Omega smelled fantastic, warmth and sweat and sex all rolled into one. For a brief moment, Castiel considered simply leaving again, because it was one thing to ask an Alpha for control when the Heat had barely started, but with four days' worth of pheromones clinging around the room, Castiel had no idea if he could do it a second time.

He moved too slowly, though, because suddenly Dean's door cracked open and wary golden eyes shone out towards him. "The Hell are you doing here?" he demanded, eyes darting over Castiel's shoulder to see if anyone had followed him up, opening the door a little more.

Whatever scent that had teased at Castiel before, it flooded outwards as Dean opened his door, still wrapped so tightly around the Omega that Castiel felt as though he were trying to see through a thick fog. His head felt like it was burning, cock hard and pressing insistently against his jeans, and he bared his teeth and lowered his eyes and tried to get a damn grip on himself.

"Cas?" Dean's voice floated to him again, wary and concerned. "Are you okay?"

The Alpha snorted out a laugh. "I'll deal," he said, because Dean had just suffered through his first Heat and he did _not _need to be worrying if Castiel could keep it in his pants. He breathed deeply through his mouth again, straightening up, and did his best to uncurl his fingers because he could feel a slight dampness on his palms that meant they'd bitten through. "I came to see if you were alright. And it's your birthday…" He tossed his arms out to the side, helpless and realizing just how foolish he must look. "I was going to get you something, but then I realized I know fuck-all about you, so…"

"Didn't I ask you to leave me alone?" Dean snapped, but he opened the door more widely, leaning just slightly on the open edge of it, and he wasn't actually sending Castiel away.

"You did," Castiel conceded with a sheepish nod. "Sam told me you'd be back in school today, and when you weren't I became worried. I…" He swallowed, looking down briefly at the floor. "I've seen what can happen to Omegas without… Well. If something happened and I wasn't there to stop it I'd never forgive myself."

"You've _caused _a lot of shit to happen to me," Dean said harshly, his cheeks reddening at Castiel's suggestion – the fantasy that he'd had last night was still fresh in his mind. So were the dreams he'd had when he'd finally gone to sleep: desperate dreams that had woken him up with come and slick staining his thighs and the desperate need to feel teeth against the back of his neck. "None of this would have happened if you hadn't kissed me and given me that damned plug."

"It might've," Castiel replied, voice low. He was starting to get really pissed that Dean refused to see just how much he _had _done for him. "There are a lot of Alphas in our school, Dean – and I don't believe for a second that you think I was the only one who took an interest in you. Some of the things…" He shook his head, blowing out a harsh breath through his nose. "Some of the things they wanted to do to you, _talked about _doing and _planned _on doing -."

"Maybe I would have _liked _some of them, Cas," Dean growled, green flaring between the gold lines in his eyes, Omega instinct dampened by the force of his anger. "Maybe there are _other _Alphas who deserve my attention more than a self-righteous, entitled dick."

"And _maybe _if I hadn't gone after those Alphas they'd have cornered you and -." He couldn't even bring himself to say the word, anger burning bright within him at the memory, at the _thought _of those bastards laying a hand on Dean. "Fuck, Dean, you were _fifteen…_"

Dean blinked at that, opening his door the rest of the way to stare at Castiel. He'd never known about this, never even thought to question it the day Castiel had come to him in front of his locker, eyes and jaw bruised, lip swollen with a jagged cut on the corner, and demanded Dean write up his Chem lab for him. Come to think of it, Dean had seen Castiel look a little worse for wear several times over their weird – he wouldn't call it a relationship – interactions.

He swallowed, his voice weak now; "You're still a dick."

"Dean," Castiel whispered, earnest and desperate and so fucking sincere that Dean almost took a step backward, because he had no idea how to interact with this Castiel. This Castiel didn't exist in his world. "I -. You're my mate, and there is nothing I would not do for you."

Dean's eyes tracked over him, almost completely green now with a thin ring of gold around the iris – the gold would never go away now, marking him as a fully-fledged Omega, and Castiel's body burned at the sight, the beautiful golden flecks complimenting the rest of him so well. The look Dean was giving him reminded Castiel of Dean's father, calculative and measured, but Castiel bore it because he hoped to God that Dean found whatever it was he was looking for. If Dean sent him away again, Castiel would obey because to do the opposite was unthinkable to him, but he doubted he would be able to put up a strong front if that happened. Alpha instinct only extended so far, after all.

"What were their names?" Dean asked after a long moment, soft-spoken and meeting Castiel's eyes. "Of the Alphas you beat up for me. What were their names?"

Castiel's shoulders slumped. "My brother Michael had his eye on you for a few years, but then he mated his Omega and it never came to anything more than that -."

"No, Cas," Dean said, shaking his head with a small smile. "You know what I meant. The ones in school."

"Dean." Castiel took a step forward and Dean didn't retreat, and he counted that as a small win. "They don't matter anymore. They're taken care of."

"I don't need to be sheltered," Dean snapped, voice a low growl again and it made Castiel shudder, hearing his Omega make a noise like that – it was a stereotype, a stupid one, that said that Alphas were all snarls and grunts and posturing and Omegas were all coy smiles and blushing cheeks and high-pitched whimpers. Dean bared his teeth at Castiel, lifting his chin in defiance when Castiel took another step forward. "I deserve to know."

Castiel smiled despite himself, rolling his eyes at Dean's stubbornness. "Alistair," he whispered, and Dean's shoulders went tense – Alistair was about as famous as Castiel was in their high school, as hated as Castiel was adored. "And his following. But it doesn't matter anymore."

Dean breathed out, lips pressed tight enough together that the edges whited out, gazing at Castiel steadily as he took another step forward. "I guess not," he conceded, and Castiel's smile grew, because he was almost close enough to touch Dean and Dean still wasn't stepping back, wasn't putting distance between them – was accepting his proximity like there was nothing weird about it. "You had to do that often?"

"More often than I would have liked," Castiel admitted, cocking his head to one side. He reached out for Dean – an action that brought a flash of gold eyes downward and a tensing of Dean's shoulders – before he stopped, fingers curling as his hand stayed in the air between them, and he jerked it back in an aborted movement. "But I would do it all again, and more, if it meant that you were safe." _With me. _He didn't say it, but Dean knew anyway.

The Omega stepped back, but not so that there was distance between him and Castiel again; he turned, jerking his head inward to invite Castiel inside, and the Alpha obeyed, shocked and disbelieving at the sudden turn. Dean closed the door far enough that there was only a thin ray of light from the outside peeking in – not completely shut but it gave some privacy – and went to sit back down on his bed, gesturing for Castiel to join him.

In the light of Dean's bedside lamp, Castiel could get a real look at him this time. Dean looked exhausted – haggard and weary with dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep and a sallowness to his skin from staying inside for four straight days. He seemed weaker, somehow – thinner though Castiel couldn't really tell in his baggy clothes – and though his potent scent was still strong, underneath Castiel could smell old sweat and drying semen, hours of desperate and unsatisfied arousal and orgasms that wouldn't fall under control unless time or a knot stopped them.

Dean sat, elbows on his knees and facing outwards while Castiel silently studied his mate. The silence seemed to stretch on forever, but it wasn't uncomfortable – at least, not for Castiel, and Dean didn't seem to mind. Dean breathed out harshly, breaking the silence. "I want it," he finally said, smirking to himself and shaking his head while Castiel frowned in confusion. "I do actually _want _it – to have a mate, to have kids and everything else that comes with the typical '50s stereotype." His eyes flashed to Castiel, bright and green again. "I never thought of my Alpha as someone like you."

Castiel broke gazes with Dean, sighing again. Dean always managed to raise his hopes like that, only to throw them back down – for years, he'd thought maybe _this _was the day; this was the day when Dean would notice him or look at him with more than just fear and anger. That day never came.

"I've had dreams," Dean continued when Castiel wouldn't answer, "about it. About you. I wake up sweaty and soaking and I _want _so bad it fucking _hurts_."

Castiel closed his eyes, squeezing them tightly shut. Dean had dreamed about him. _Dean had dreamed about him, _and yet he knew that if he reached for the other male now he would get shot down and pushed away.

"Even before the Heat," Dean whispered, like the dirtiest, most awful confession in the world, and Castiel's eyes flared open again in shock. Dean snorted, looking amused at Castiel's expression: "I'm not as blind as you think I am, Cas. And I've had a pretty decent amount of time to think – between school, craving the hour when I would finally be free and could come back home to my family, where you couldn't touch me – where no one could touch me. And now…" He sighed, rolling his shoulders, and pushed his mouth against his folded hands, bracing himself on his knees once more.

Castiel turned his face away. "Dean," he whispered, nails digging into the recently-changed sheets, from the smell of them, and pulling tightly. "Don't tell me things like this if you're just going to send me away again. It's cruel."

_"Cruel?"_ Dean repeated incredulously, barking out a harsh sound as he looked to Castiel with disbelieving eyes. "You think what I'm doing to you is _cruel_? That trying to take my own time to come to grips with the fact that I might want to _fuck _my bully is _cruel_?" He snorted again, dark and bitter, eyes black with anger. "You're a fucking double standard and a half, Castiel."

"I know you're testing me," Castiel replied, trying to keep his voice even and level, and earning an eye-roll from Dean. "I _know _you

are, like your brother is, like your father is – if I'd ever met your mother I'm sure she would too. But I don't know what _for_." He stood up abruptly, pacing to the other side of Dean's room, running his hands through his hair and over his face. "You invite me in here, _knowing _what an Omega's smell does to Alphas, _knowing _that I am doing my _damnedest _to give you what you need, and what you want – and then you turn it back on me, tell me what a bastard I am when I already _know_, and I'm trying to change that -."

"I didn't _ask _for you to get matched with me," Dean snarled, standing also and advancing on Castiel until there was barely a foot of space between them. His anger was so strong, his nearness so sudden and unexpected, that Castiel sucked in a breath – it was like Dean's scent had changed, now, something dark and heady underlying the pheromones of his Heat. One more layer to add to the addictive mix that was Dean Winchester. "And I sure as Hell didn't _ask _to get treated like some piece of meat for wild dogs to scrap over!"

Castiel bared his teeth at the insult, eyes flashing with a dangerous amount of red, but Dean didn't flinch. Where had this strong, stubborn boy come from? God, Castiel was even more wrapped up in him now than he had been before – there was something about arguing with Dean that made him desire the Omega that much more. If Dean was beautiful in his submission, he was breathtaking in his defiance.

"You," Dean snarled, pressing closer, and Castiel could feel his warmth bleeding through their clothes, and his throat and mouth were coated in Dean's scent, and he wanted nothing more than to wrap himself around Dean and carve out a place for himself within the Omega, kiss and touch and fuck him until Dean could think nothing more than his name – until the fight drained out of him and left him boneless and sated in Castiel's arms. Fuck, how he wanted -. "You are the worst thing to ever happen to me, and I _still _fucking want you."

And then Dean was kissing him.

It was pure reaction after that – Castiel's breathless gasp was lost against Dean's mouth. His mind demanded explanation, but the red had firmly planted itself in his eyes now, and Dean's were glowing gold back at him: Alpha and Omega, instinct and need overriding both of them. Castiel's hands wrapped around Dean's arms, just below his shoulders, and he shoved Dean back, forcing space between them. Dean's scent had mixed again; earth and life and sweat mixing with slick and Heat, and then Dean was surging against him again and Castiel could not resist a second time. He wasn't that strong, he would admit it.

Dean's hand found its way to the back of Castiel's head, fingers knotting tight and pulling just enough for Castiel to give a warning snarl of pain, biting into Dean's mouth, but the Omega just smirked and let him bite, yanking Castiel's head back and guiding him to Dean's neck instead.

"You'd better -," he gasped, choking on his moan when Castiel's hands roved down his back, nails digging in and scratching down as his mouth found the damp curve of Dean's neck and sank his teeth into the sensitive flesh, "better make this damn good for me."

Castiel chuckled, closing his eyes, and nuzzled against the mark he had just left behind. He wanted to say something in reply to that – _I'm yours _or _of course I will _or _anything you wish_ – but his mouth felt dry and instead he pressed his mouth to Dean's again, hands sliding down to wrap around the back of the Omega's thighs, and he lifted Dean to settle around his waist and walked over towards the bed.

He covered Dean with his body, hands eager to forgo his hold on Dean's thighs to instead explore the rest of him; dig under Dean's sweatshirt and ruck up the material until it bunched under his arms, exposing the pale skin beneath. When Dean breathed, Castiel could see the flex of his ribs, his fingers lovingly tracing the edge of muscle in Dean's stomach, nails digging in to mark Dean there, too. Castiel wanted there to be no doubt that every part of Dean's body was his – to consume, to adore, to have and hold. _All of it._

Dean sat up, pulling the sweatshirt over his head, and then moved to yank at his sweatpants too. Castiel followed suit and pulled off his shirt quickly, eager to bare his own body to Dean and revel in the feeling of skin on skin, and to see Dean – naked and spread out and slick, just for him.

He could feel the impatience rolling off of Dean, the demand for him to hurry the fuck up on the tip of the Omega's tongue, so he leaned down to silence Dean with his mouth, one arm bracing him over the younger boy as his hand flattened over Dean's flank, sliding down to his thigh and further back, until he could feel the edge of the slick pooling against Dean's thighs and felt Dean shiver, legs spreading in readiness.

Castiel paused, pulling back so that he could look Dean in the eye. "How do you want it?" he asked.

Dean frowned at him. "What?"

"When you imagined it," Castiel said, leaning down again to nuzzle at the fresh mark on Dean's neck, and Dean tilted his head to one side like he had so many times before, but this time his scent wasn't laced with fear and he wasn't tensing up underneath Castiel, or trying to hide. "Was it like this? I…I want it to be good for you, Dean. Whatever you want, I'll do it."

Dean blinked up at him, surprised and suddenly wary. It was easier to just lie back and accept the Alpha – not to _think_, not to _fight_ – to just lose himself in sensation and sweat and Castiel's harsh breathing against his neck. But the way Castiel looked at him brought goose bumps to Dean's skin, made his chest feel tight and his head feel hot and fogged-up, and he _wanted _to tell Castiel, to show him what Dean wanted. He wanted to tell Castiel to move a mountain and watch the Alpha do his damnedest to make it happen.

God, he wanted all of it.

"I, ah…" He could _feel _himself blush, that damn embarrassing predisposition that it seemed his gender was cursed with, but Castiel's eyes didn't waver; his expression didn't change. "I like the idea of…of seeing you, when you…" He couldn't bring himself to say the word, but Castiel pressed his lips together and seemed to understand.

"I can do that," he whispered, smiling softly, and leaned down to kiss Dean again, his fingers trailing back between Dean's legs and teasing at the wet, eager rim of Dean's hole.

The Omega shivered, spreading his legs a little wider. "You don't need to do that," he said, blushing despite himself because, of all the ways he'd imagined Castiel would be (and that number was shamefully high), this wasn't it; the Alpha was gentle, and slow, warm like being immersed in water. He looked at Dean like there was no one else in the world. He hadn't expected this – this weird intimacy, eye contact and gentle touches and no rush. Had no idea how to equate this gentle, patient Castiel with the Alpha that had tried to make his life Hell. "You don't need to prove anything."

"I want to," Castiel replied, like it was obvious, brow furrowing just a little. Dean's answer was lost when, quite suddenly, he felt one of Castiel's fingers slip inside of him, burning just a little because of how raw and sensitive his body still was, but still good – so good. Dean bit his lip to stifle any sound that might escape. "An Omega isn't something to be bent over and fucked into at the first hint of slick, Dean – I could hurt you that way."

"You've hurt me before," Dean replied softly, but it didn't lessen the sting of that accusation, and Castiel lowered his eyes because he knew it was true. "Come on, Cas – I want it. Please?"


	3. Chapter 3

Castiel hummed, pressing his lips together as he sat back and contemplated Dean, but his finger didn't pull out of the Omega's body. After a moment, he twisted it inside of Dean just to feel him shudder and arch up, and slid another inside along with the first, and he lowered himself between Dean's legs, nuzzling into the juncture of hip and thigh, before he turned his head and, with his free hand, wrapped his fingers around Dean's hard, flushed cock and took him into his mouth.

It felt like a live current had just shot down Dean's spine – the Omega sucked in a harsh breath, hips thrusting upwards of their own accord and almost making Castiel choke, but the Alpha was quick to flatten his palm over Dean's stomach to keep him down, fingers twisting inside of Dean as he growled low and sucked harshly on the head of Dean's cock. The Omega's sweet flavor and scent surrounded him, left him aching and desperate to rut into Dean's body and never come out again, but he held himself back – Dean wanted a mate who could control himself, and Castiel could definitely be that.

Dean was breathing harshly, a hand now fisted tight in Castiel's hair, pressing him down. Castiel knew he could fight the hold off if he wanted to, and likely Dean knew it too, but he didn't – he allowed his Omega to force his head down, Castiel swallowing as much of Dean as he could as his fingers curled inside of Dean, searching for that one spot inside of an Omega that melted them into the mattress.

If Dean didn't know any better, he would have thought he was still in Heat – the way his body was burning with need, with want, was familiar and sharp in the same way, but this time it wasn't his own hand getting him off, but the Alpha's – Castiel, who had his nose buried in the crisp mesh of hair at the base of Dean's cock, whose fingers were spreading him wide and whose scent was by now surely part of Dean's own skin.

The Omega's body was soaked through, new slick leaking out of him at Castiel's touch, and the Alpha moaned at the smell of it, pulling off of Dean's cock just long enough to lick further backwards, his fingers spreading Dean wide enough to take his tongue, and Dean made a soft sound of surprise and desire before the Omega's hands were curling around the backs of his thighs, spreading him wider and up so that Castiel would have room.

He should have known better – one taste wasn't enough for Castiel. He snarled, heat behind his eyes making them flare red, and withdrew his fingers so he could dig his hands into Dean's ass, spread his cheeks wide and lick deeper into him, eager to soak his tongue in the taste of his willing Omega mate. The sounds Dean was making would hit the porno charts, he was sure, and Castiel was determined to wring every last one of them out of him.

_"Cas_," Dean moaned, already panting and close to losing it completely. "Cas, _God_, please!"

The Alpha snarled, flicking his tongue along Dean's rim, fingers returning to sink into the Omega once more and spread him open. The taste of Dean was one he would never get enough of, now that he'd had it. He wanted more – everything, Dean's mouth and his ass and his cock, his hands clawing at Castiel's shoulders when he came, his thighs tensing up around his waist, eyes glazed and golden. He wanted every single part of it.

"You're so fucking perfect," he said, words almost lost in his growl when he took Dean into his mouth again, a third finger joining the first two, and he growled softly in pleasure when he finally managed to find Dean's prostate, stroking over it with gentle fingers in an action that had Dean whimpering and thrusting up wildly into his mouth.

"Cas," Dean whispered, a warning in his voice that Castiel chose to ignore, sliding his fingers deep inside of Dean again and sucking as hard as he could, tongue lapping out along the slit of Dean's cock for the first, salt-sweet taste of precome on his tongue. "Cas, I'm gonna – _fuck_, I -."

Dean couldn't say the rest, but Castiel didn't need him to. He hummed gently, tilting his head and pulling up just enough that the first spurt of Dean's come didn't accidently hit his gag reflex or anything, fingers still curling inside of his Omega, and milked Dean through it while the boy writhed and moaned beneath him. _Fuck_, he'd done this to Dean. _He _had made Dean look like this, feel like this – had made the gold in his eyes completely opaque so there was nothing more to him than Omega instinct and desire for an Alpha. Fuck.

Dean felt like it took forever for him to come down again, his entire body lax after the orgasm, his breathing unsteady and his heart hammering in his chest. "Fuck," he whispered, letting his legs drop and running a hand through his sweaty hair, staring upwards. Pretty sure that was the best damn orgasm of his life, and Castiel hadn't even gotten his cock in him yet.

His brain stuttered at that thought. Castiel hadn't…

He sat up to find Castiel staring back at him, fine red filigree running through his eyes but not as much as Dean would have expected. His gaze wasn't impatient, or calculating – merely as though he simply wanted to look at Dean, catalogue each and every nuance of his expressions, every freckle on his face and hair on his head.

"Um," Dean said, feeling suddenly awkward, shifting in place and doing his best to hide his blush. "We can keep going, if you want to."

Castiel closed his eyes, taking in a deep, steadying breath. "No," he finally said, shaking his head and opening his eyes again. "Not like this." Then, he stood, and Dean's blush darkened at the evidence of Castiel's obvious arousal – but the Alpha wasn't pushing him, was _rejecting _him, and Dean had no idea how that simple fact managed to piss him off so much.

"Come on," he coaxed, sitting forward and catching Castiel's hand when the other teen had found his shirt, his jeans open now and barely clinging to his hips. "No reason for you to be left hangin' like that. That would be -."

"Cruel?" Castiel finished for him, the word a bite that Dean wanted to flinch from, but he didn't. He met Castiel's gaze steadily – something was changing between them. He could feel it, even though he wasn't quite sure what it would mean for either of them. Castiel sighed, removing his hand from Dean's, and fastened his jeans before grabbing for his shirt and slipping that back on over his head. "I don't want it like that, Dean," he confessed, eyes not quite meeting Dean's. "I don't want you to hate me, or be angry at me, or feel some kind of sick obligation towards me when I mate with you. So…" He shrugged, biting his lower lip and letting it drag back out. "I can wait."

"Cas, I -."

"Just." Castiel held a hand up, silencing Dean, and finally turned to face him. He crouched down so that he and Dean were level, reaching forward with a gentle hand to brush his fingertips over the side of Dean's face. "Promise me you'll be in school tomorrow."

Dean swallowed, eyes dipping down, and he nodded without a word.

Castiel smiled, standing up and placing a soft kiss to Dean's forehead. "Happy birthday, Dean," he whispered against the Omega's hair, before grabbing his schoolbag, which he shouldered and left with, leaving Dean alone with a smell on the sheets and a vague sense of disappointment and loss. He felt _empty, _denied and rejected, and he hated that Castiel could do that to him; that he could just waltz in here and give Dean the best orgasm of his life, and then leave without even trying to cop a feel.

What kind of Alpha _was _Castiel?

* * *

He almost expected everything to stay the same. For him to walk into the school and have no one comment on his absence or remark on the new ring of gold in his eyes. He expected Castiel to corner him against his locker and press his forearm to Dean's throat like he had so many times before, eyes red and superior and everything that Dean had grown to hate about him.

Two of his closest friends, Charlie and Benny, were there to greet him when he approached his locker with big grins and a cupcake with a lit candle sticking out of the top, and Dean laughed despite himself because good God they were such dorks. But he accepted the cupcake after blowing out the candle and let each of the greedy little shits take a bite themselves before finishing it off.

They'd also given him a new Biology book on brain anatomy – Dean wanted to be a neurobiologist, or something like that – and a gift certificate for iTunes 'since I can't stomach buying you any of that crap in real life', Benny had said, making Dean laugh again.

"You and your jazz," he replied with a roll of his eyes, knocking the Beta male in the chest with his fist.

"So," Charlie said after a moment of companionable silence, stretching out the word for several seconds until Dean winced, and she planted her chin on her palm, pretending like they were gossiping girls leaning on a bar, "did you find out who your parents matched you with?"

"He's gotta've," Benny replied, cocking his head to one side. "Probably spent the last four days having _good _fun with him, too."

"You're gross," Dean retorted, but his cheeks reddened and he knew he had given himself away. He closed his eyes, breathing out. "It's Castiel."

A pause. "You've got to be shitting me," Charlie whispered, eyes wide. "_Castiel_-Castiel?"

"No, Charlie, the actual Angel," Dean replied with a roll of his eyes. "_Yes_, that Castiel."

"But…but he's been here. I've seen him hanging around. He can't have been with you if he was here…" Benny trailed off, frowning despite himself, his eyes darkening in worry towards his friend. Dean was the only Omega out of the three of them, and though they rarely hung out outside of their Science classes, they knew enough to know exactly who Castiel was, and there were enough whispers through the Alphas of the class to know that he'd put an explicit 'Hands Off' sign on Dean's hide.

Dean bit his lip, looking down. "He, ah." He coughed, rubbing the back of his head because he wasn't sure how to exactly _explain _the situation without having to go into too much detail. "I didn't know it was him, obviously, and when my parents called him I kind of freaked out and told him to leave. I want…I wanted to get to know him before, you know…"

Benny's face smoothed out in understanding, and he nodded in sympathy, but Charlie frowned, brows furrowing. "Yeah, but Heats are Hell, Dean – there's no reason you couldn't let him mate with you and _then_ get on to the, you know, boring shit."

"Classy as always," Benny muttered with a roll of his eyes, dodging out of the way of Charlie's fist. Then, the bell rang, signaling five minutes before the first class started, and the three of them parted with Benny and Charlie wishing Dean a happy birthday and dashing off to their own classes. Dean had biology with them second period and he knew he had until after lunch to come up with a reasonable defense for their interrogations, but he was pretty good at hiding – he'd done it for years, after all.

He shouldered his bag and rounded the corner to head to his own class, only to damn near collide with someone. "Sorry," he muttered, dodging out of the way, only to have his arm caught in a tight grip, and he looked up with wide eyes into the pale gaze of one of Alistair's cronies.

He was only a Beta – not as much threat to Dean as a hotheaded Alpha – but given the way he was looking at Dean, that distinction didn't seem to matter much, and Dean's blood ran cold at the leer he was given. "Look who's finally turned ripe," the Beta said, pale eyes raking up and down Dean's body in a way that made it feel as though the man was already trying to touch him, and he shuddered and tried to pull away, but the Beta's grip was too strong and he couldn't break free.

"Get the fuck off me," he demanded, pulling harder, but the man's grip merely tightened and Dean flinched when it turned painful instead of just restraining.

The Beta looked at him for a moment longer, eyes faintly glowing in pleasure at watching Dean struggle, before he released Dean and sent him staggering back against the wall. "I'm sure I'll be seeing more of you soon, bitch," he said cheerfully, mock-saluting Dean before he carried on his merry way, around the corner and out of sight.

Dean had to shake it off and hurry to class, otherwise he would be late, but his skin felt clammy and cold and he couldn't concentrate worth a damn the entire time.

* * *

He still hadn't shaken off the mood that had settled over him by the time lunch came around – he knew his classmates and teachers were looking at him funny, trying to figure out if he was still recovering from the Heat or if there was something else wrong with him. Word had spread, apparently, that he and Castiel were meant to be mated, the smarter ones putting two and two together and realizing that that couldn't possibly be true. He'd already gotten notes slipped through his locker by (presumably) jealous students angrily threatening him and demanding what kind of stuck-up prude he must be to not let Castiel fuck him.

Suffice it to say he was in a pretty foul mood by the time lunch came around, so wrapped up in his own mess that he didn't even register the warmth approaching him, until a tray clattered onto the table in front of him and he looked up to see Castiel taking a seat opposite.

The Alpha looked hesitant, half-expecting Dean to send him away again, and Dean blushed despite himself, hand unconsciously trailing to the sore mark left on his neck, just out of sight underneath his t-shirt. Castiel's eyes tracked the movement, darkening briefly, before they both seemed to relax. Dean had no intention of sending Castiel away a second time – not after the vaguely menacing encounter he'd had this morning, and more importantly, because he didn't want to.

His scent still clung to Castiel – he could smell himself on the Alpha, his Heat and his fertility, and there was something just incredibly _satisfying _about that. Dean fought to hide his smirk, looking down and picking at his food – those other Omegas and girls in the school, they could wail and howl and scream at him all they wanted, but he had _Castiel_, most badass Alpha in the school, wrapped around his little finger. Fuck, yeah, that felt good.

"How are you feeling?" Castiel finally asked, uncapping the lid from some strawberry yoghurt and licking at the lid before setting it aside.

Dean smiled despite himself. "Pretty good," he said, watching Castiel eat for a moment. "Got threatened in the hallway this morning."

Castiel abruptly went still, red flickering behind his eyes. "Who?" he asked, lowly, and Dean shook his head.

"One of Alistair's guys. Don't know his name."

Castiel nostrils flared as he inhaled, as though he would be able to smell the bastard on his mate, and the Alpha pressed his lips together angrily before taking another spoonful of yoghurt. "Anyone fucking touches you; they get to answer to me."

"Yeah, I gathered that," Dean replied dryly, earning a disgruntled huff from the Alpha. "You ever thought of putting all that misdirected testosterone to some actual good use?"

Castiel raised an eyebrow, cocking his head to one side. "What use would that be?"

"Well," Dean muttered, pretending to contemplate a piece of cinnamon-glazed apple that was precariously balanced on the end of his fork, before sliding it into his mouth and chewing, still pretending to consider all the options. "You could get a hobby. Maybe basket-weaving."

The look on Castiel's face almost made Dean crack up, and the Omega smirked, shrugging one shoulder. "I only say this because it seems like you're not gonna use your testosterone for what it's for, so maybe you need to focus your attention on something other than beating up dumb jocks who are trying to make a move on something you're too chickenshit to claim for yourself."

Dean could feel the snarl coming out of Castiel more than he could hear it, raising goose bumps along his arm. "Why are you provoking me, Dean?" he challenged, eyes flickering with red again.

Dean raised his chin in defiance. "Who gave you the _right_, you self-important bastard," he hissed, leaning forward over the table, fingers curling along the weak edge of his tray, "to make me want you like I do, _need _you like I do, only to fucking _walk away_ when I finally ask you for it?"

"You weren't _asking _for it," Castiel replied harshly, jaw clenching. "You were _attacking _me for it."

Dean stood up abruptly; low snarl spilling from him before he could control it, and abruptly a few of the tables around him went silent. Seeing an Omega stand up to an Alpha like that was practically unheard of, but standing up to _Castiel_? A Novak? Downright impossible. "You know what?" Dean hissed, leaning forward and planting his palms on the table. "I think I'm going to go for a _run_." Castiel's eyes widened, surprise and disbelief warring for dominance in them – Dean hated the idea of a chase, he'd said so himself, why would he -? "And if _you _don't catch me, I'm pretty damn sure there's another Alpha out there to take your place."

"Dean." Castiel stood up too, voice low and wary, and he was reaching out for Dean but the Omega pulled his hands back, leaving Castiel there with a hand hanging in the space between them. "Please. Don't. Don't do anything -."

"I don't need your fucking approval, _Castiel_," Dean spat, standing up straight and rolling his shoulders. "You're not actually my mate, you know."

With that, he stormed out of the cafeteria without clearing his spot, leaving Castiel to stare at his back the whole way. Enough people had heard their conversation – Dean knew that by the end of the day the entire school would likely have heard about it, which was just perfect in his books. The more the merrier. Fuck it, let the whole damn town come.

He didn't need Castiel. He didn't _want _Castiel.

Fuck.

He made it to his next classroom before the strength drained out of him, leaving him shaking from the adrenaline high. God, he'd just stood up to Castiel – basically told him to go screw himself, and an Omega _never _did that to their Alpha. It was meant to be complete submission, trust and love wrapped into a perfect bond, but Castiel would never be that Alpha because Dean didn't love him, didn't trust him.

Any time he thought that he might be able to, Castiel turned around and reminded him that he was the same stupid knothead that had decided to go piss all over Dean's life and beat the shit out of anyone who got in his way.

And Dean had just provoked him.

"Fuck," he whispered, rubbing his palms over his mouth, and closed his eyes. Well. He was eighteen now – power and strength might not be the highest on his list of attractive qualities in a mate, but if there was anyone that could best Castiel and bring him down a peg or two, Dean might not actually care. Anyone was better than that bastard.

* * *

When Dean first started, no one was immediately following behind. He supposed that was part of the point – smart Alphas could scent-mark an Omega beforehand, dissuade them from following certain trails if they smelled an Alpha there before, but Dean could sense no one. He didn't let that lure him into a false sense of security – Alphas were cunning, and sometimes they were smart, and he wouldn't put it past any of them to try and sneak their way to him instead of outright chasing him.

He was well past the outskirts of town when he spotted the first one, out of the corner of his eye. There was a thin copse of trees to his left, fields to his right with high stalks of growing wheat that he knew were tall enough to hide in, and so he veered that way just in time for three other boys to break from the trees. Dean cursed, recognizing at least one of Alistair's guys in the three – the Beta who he had met earlier – and he put on a burst of speed, disappearing into the wheat stalks as quickly as he could.

"Come on out, little bitch!" one of them called, a voice Dean didn't recognize, and he forced himself to breathe out slowly and keep moving, circling and twisting around them because as long as they made noise, it meant they weren't listening for him – relying on their nose, which was stupid among a crop with such a potent smell. "Me and my buddies have some nice big knots for you to choke on."

Dean shuddered with revulsion, swallowing and moving deeper into the fields. They were branching out behind him in all directions, and Dean picked up speed again, determined to put as much distance between them and him as possible.

It was unbearably humid amongst the crop, and Dean was panting and beginning to sweat despite the cool January weather. He dared not take off any clothing to leave behind or carry with him, because if they caught even a little bit of his scent, they'd be able to find him that much more easily, and Dean did _not _want to mate with any of Alistair's crew through some sheer dumb luck. Or any reason, really – knowing what they would do to him, hearing their catcalls and gross promises ghosting among the stalks, Dean was starting to panic, because what if they were the only ones chasing him?

He kept running, and spotted a place up ahead where the crop was thinning – a break between two fields – and just as he was reaching it a hard body smashed into him from the side and Dean was knocked onto his back, winded and breathless and pinned by the body of a heavy Alpha.

"There you are," the Alpha crooned in a voice that made Dean's blood freeze in his veins, and when he pulled back it was to see the face of none other than Alistair. The Alpha's pale eyes were glowing a dark red with instinct, and Dean had no doubt in his mind that all Alistair saw when he looked at Dean was a piece of meat – a thing, to be used and fucked now that he'd been caught. "I've been looking all over for you."

Dean gasped, struggling to get free while the Alpha watched him, amused smirk on his lips. "You're a fighter. I like that," he said, pulling back so that he was straddling Dean's thighs, one hand flattened over his throat to keep him down and Dean's hands flew to his throat, curling around his fingers to try and stop the pressure against him. "I wonder how long it'll take me to break you in."

_No_. Dean arched as best he could, digging his heels in and trying to dislodge the Alpha on top of him as Alistair's free hand raked down his chest, overly-sharp nails tearing through his clothes and leaving red lines in its wake. "No," Dean bit out, wincing at the pain, writhing underneath Alistair even though he was certain his struggles were only bringing the Alpha more sick pleasure. "No – don't. Please, I -."

"You what?" Alistair asked, sounding curious and bored at the same time, tilting his head to one side as he used his free hand to start undoing Dean's belt and the button of his jeans, slowly separating the halves and baring more of Dean's flesh to his greedy gaze. "Already have a mate? Then why are you out here all on your own? Where is he now?"

"He'll kill you," Dean hissed, baring his teeth at the Alpha even as he heard other footsteps approaching – slow and unhurried, not Castiel. "I'll tell him exactly what you did to me and he'll rip you apart."

Alistair laughed, joined by his three cronies who had finally found them between the fields and were circling around Dean's prone form. "Well, see, there's kind of a problem with your story there, little bitch," he said, looking up at the other three for confirmation. "You dear guardian Alpha isn't chasing you today – said so himself." Dean's eyes widened, and he shook his head, all color draining from his face. "He doesn't want you now, and he certainly won't want you by the time me and my boys here are done with you."

"You're lying," Dean whispered, still and numb as Alistair continued to pull at his jeans, hiking his shredded shirt up to bare his marked chest, and the four boys laughed – deep, guttural sounds that had Dean's skin crawling. "You're lying!"

One of his hands flew out, digging into the inside of Alistair's arm, and he dragged his nails down the sensitive, thin skin of his inner elbow. Alistair cursed, bending under the blow, and Dean surged up to knock his head against the Alpha's skull. It wasn't a good hit – Dean wasn't as strong and he sure as Hell wasn't as good a fighter – but it was enough to get enough time to land a punch to Alistair's throat, and then his chest and his stomach and his groin. The Alpha howled in pain and anger, slumping off of Dean and on to the floor, and Dean rolled to his feet, turning to face the other three.

"Rip that little bitch apart!" Alistair snarled from his defensive position on the floor, face red with pain and eyes glowing a color that Dean had never seen – pure Alpha, rage and ire and instinct. The three others looked to Alistair, then back to Dean.

Dean took off running.

"Get your ass back here!" They were after him, and he knew they would gain ground – he couldn't outrun them forever. He was bleeding and shaking and sore and his jeans kept trying to fall down and he didn't know where he was headed anymore; didn't know the land or anything other than he had to get _away_. He needed to get back home, where no one could touch him, or back to Castiel, who would kill anyone who tried.

He needed -.

Dean rounded a corner, following the path dividing the two wheat fields, and a hand snaked out of the crop and yanked him to one side until he collided with a hard chest. Dean froze, ready to fight some more, ready for anything, when he breathed in and a familiar scent hit him like a punch to the gut.

"_Cas_ -."

A hand clamped itself over his mouth, Castiel's eyes focused on his and warning, chin tilted up just slightly, his eyes telling Dean to shut his Goddamn mouth before they were found out. Dean nodded in understanding and Castiel carefully, slowly released his mouth, before he raised his eyes and cocked his head to one side to listen. Dean could hear, listening with baited breath, the three others rounding the corner and pounding after him, shouting his name along with all kinds of awful slurs that Dean would rather never hear again. And, a few seconds after, their voices faded away and Dean could not hear any of them anymore.

He turned back to look at Castiel, vaguely surprised to see that there was no red in his pupil whatsoever, despite the fact that a chase was meant to specifically bring out the Alpha instinct. Castiel had his carefully reined in – he had waited for Dean to run to him.

"Cas," Dean whispered again, leaning in and burying his face in Castiel's neck, clutching him tightly. He was shaking now – knowing he was safe, he could allow himself to unravel from the tight, adrenaline-fueled state he had been in before and relax in his mate's arms, because Castiel would never hurt him the way Alistair had tried to. "Cas, I -."

"Hush, Dean," the Alpha whispered, carding one hand through Dean's hair until it rested on the back of Dean's neck, clamping down tight to simulate a mating bite, while the other gently pressed against Dean's injured stomach. A small tremor went through Castiel, anger and guilt and relief all rolled into one. "I've got you now."

"Don't leave," Dean whispered, confessed it against the Alpha's skin like some horrible little secret. "Please. Please stay with me."

"I'm not going anywhere," came the reply, and Dean clenched his eyes tightly shut and wrapped his arms around Castiel more tightly.

* * *

There was a thigh trapped between his own, an arm slung around his waist, warm puffs of breath against his hair in a rhythmic, even pattern. Dean opened his eyes sluggishly, reluctantly, unwilling to part from this cocoon of perfect warmth he had found himself in, but curiosity got the better of him and he sat up, looking around.

He was back in his room. Looking down, he identified the body that he had been so entangled with as Castiel's. Curious, Dean sniffed the air, but could find no evidence of mating pheromones or anything like that. So Castiel had brought him home after the chase, and fallen asleep with him to make sure he was okay.

There was the distinct smell of disinfectant, and Dean looked down at his bare stomach to see Alistair's scratches scabbing over. His head hurt, but he could feel no bump there, and his back was sore from being thrown onto the ground, his arm achy from being yanked so suddenly to safety. All in all, though, he was in far better shape than he had any right to be, and he knew he owed that to the Alpha currently asleep in his bed next to him.

He was dressed in sweatpants and Castiel was still fully clothed, but he also seemed to have borrowed some of Dean's clothes – he recognized that Motorhead tee and those sleep pants too, but there was something undeniably _comforting _about seeing Castiel in his clothes, so Dean didn't think too hard about it.

Sighing, he laid back down to settle in again, and his movements made Castiel stir, the Alpha grunting sleepily and burying his face into the pillow again even as his arms wrapped themselves around Dean's shoulders, pulling him in. Dean grinned despite himself – who knew the badass Alpha jock was a grumpy morning person.

He buried his nose against Castiel's collarbone, breathing deeply. The scent of him was comforting now, in a way that it had failed to be before the last hectic week. Dean had no idea how to even begin reconciling himself to the fact that he might actually want to give Castiel a shot. Might want to see how far he could push the controlled Alpha until he snapped – how much of a dick, or a tease, or a pain in the ass he could be before Castiel reverted back to his old ways and left Dean with a sore ass and a vague sense of disappointment.

"You're thinking too much," Castiel mumbled, sounding almost offended by that, and Dean laughed.

"Well I am much smarter than you," he said; "I have a lot more to think about."

Castiel hummed, opening his eyes and letting Dean see the bright, crystal-clear blue without a thread of redness within them. The Alpha smirked a little, curling his fingers around the back of Dean's neck, and pulled him in. "I'll just have to distract you, then," he whispered, breathing the words against Dean's parted mouth before pressing their lips together. It was a chaste kiss – simple and sweet in a way their relationship simply hadn't been – but Dean threw himself into it nevertheless, eager and willing to try and explore the new intimacy he felt whenever Castiel looked at him or touched him like this – like he was some amazing, beautiful new find and he wanted nothing more than to explore and mark every part of Dean.

The Omega trembled under Castiel, moaning weakly into the Alpha's mouth when Castiel rolled them, his weight gently pinning Dean down on the bed, fingertips grazing the side of his face even as his other hand moved to brace him so that he wasn't pressing down on Dean's shoulders or his injured stomach. "I want to kill them," Castiel confessed between one kiss and another, tongue sliding out to lick into Dean's mouth. "Alistair, his henchmen – I want to tear them apart for daring to touch you like this."

Dean reached up, grabbing Castiel's shoulders tightly, faced with the sudden and irrational fear that Castiel would bolt on him again. "I'm okay," he finally said when Castiel let him up for air. "They didn't hurt me. Not really. Not as well as they could have."

"You fought them off," Castiel conceded with a soft hum, moving away from Dean's mouth and to his neck instead, laving warm, open-mouthed kisses against the sensitive skin accompanied with soft nips of teeth and drags of his lips, sucking mark after mark onto Dean's flesh to mark him and remind Castiel that he's there, _right there_, not going anywhere, not hurt or beaten or -. "You fought _him_ off. You idiotic, arrogant Omega."

Dean went tense at that. "Don't call me that," he said softly, tilting his head away when Castiel lifted to see his face. He shoved at Castiel's shoulders, sitting up, and pushed the Alpha off his body.

"Call you what?"

"_Omega_," Dean hissed, "like it's some kind of insult. Like they – and you – would call me 'bitch' or 'cockslut' or anything else. It…" He shivered, wrapping his arms tightly around himself and suddenly aware that he was shirtless while Castiel was fully clothed. "I know what I am; you don't need to remind me."

"What you _are_," Castiel replied, taking Dean's chin in hand and forcing their eyes to meet, "is a brave, foolish, hardheaded boy who is going to get himself into a lot of fights when he's older, and make it out of every single one. And _I_," he let Dea

Dean's chin go, pressing his hand to his chest instead, "am a boy who is so completely wrapped up in you – and you know it, too – that I'm willing to stand by and watch it happen. If someone else had caught you yesterday and you had consented to it, I would have backed off. I wouldn't have liked it, but I'm not going to…_force _you," he blanched at the word, "to do anything. I'm serious, Dean – any relationship I have with you, I want to have it because you want it, too – because you like or respect or want me the way I like and respect and want you."

"I _do _want you," Dean replied, gesturing vaguely in Castiel's direction. "I'm just…"

"What?" Castiel demanded, his voice incredibly gentle and belying the order in it.

"You've changed a lot," Dean admitted, folding his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. "And I like who you are now a helluva lot better than I liked the other guy, but I still know that other guy exists." He paused, swallowing. "As soon as I give you what you want, are you gonna go back to being him? 'Cause I'd rather be mated to someone who thinks of me as a piece of ass to fuck and impregnate than fall into that lie with you."

Castiel's exhale was heavy, and he pressed his lips together, regarding Dean carefully. Then, he held out his hand towards Dean. "Let's start over, then," he said, earning a curious and wary flash of Dean's golden-ringed eyes. "I'm Castiel."

Dean smirked despite himself, amusement flaring in his features. "Dean," he said with barely contained laughter, reaching out and shaking Castiel's hand. "What the Hell are you doing in my bedroom, Castiel?"

"Ah, well, this is awkward," Castiel replied, scratching the back of his head, and the whole thing was so damn ridiculous that it was all Dean could do to stop himself laughing. "But I kind of rescued a damsel in distress today."

"Wow, so you're like a knight in shining armor and everything," Dean said with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

Castiel shrugged, looking sheepish and coy, and Dean wanted to laugh. This was so fucking ridiculous. "You into rock music at all, Cas?" Dean asked, getting to his feet and heading over to his vast collection of old CDs and cassette tapes. "Zeppelin, Metallica, the like?"

"I've never really listened to anything like that," Castiel confessed, making Dean turn around with wide eyes, before the Omega's face broke out into a grin.

"Well then," he said, holding up a CD that Castiel couldn't see the title of because of the way the light shone, but Dean seemed very excited about it. "Hold on tight – I'm about to give you your first _real_ music lesson." He paused for a moment, sliding the CD inside, and looked over his shoulder towards Castiel, throwing him a playful wink. "And you'd better pay attention – there's a test later."

"Ugh," Castiel moaned with a roll of his eyes that seemed to incorporate his whole body. "I suck at school."

"Don't worry," Dean replied, pressing 'Play' on the CD player and rejoining Castiel on the bed as the introductory notes of some rock song Castiel didn't recognize began to play. "I'll let you cheat off my answers." He bumped his shoulder into Castiel's, grinning widely, and Castiel smiled in return. Dean was amazing, and for the moment Castiel let himself soak into the sheer _presence _of the Omega, his rock music and his scent and his infectious grin.

Yep. He was the luckiest Alpha in the world.


	4. Chapter 4

**Epilogue – Three years later.**

"Hey, bitch."

Dean went tense immediately at the slur, pressing his lips together and curling his fingers more tightly around the edge of his beer. He'd just turned twenty-one a week ago, and, like the cocky S.O.B. he was, he had decided to go to the most notorious Alpha bar in town to celebrate. The only Omegas in this room were on their knees and wearing collars, or no more of a physical presence than the occasional desperate cry from one of the back rooms.

He took a sip of his beer, trying to ignore the warmth seeping into him from behind him, where he knew the big, hulking Alpha had addressed him. It was either that, or talk back – talking back would get him punched in maybe two seconds, but ignoring him bought Dean some time.

Soon enough, a hand landed on his shoulder, spinning him around on the bar stool so violently that he almost fell off. "You'll fucking look at me when I'm talking to you," the Alpha demanded, all snarling teeth and glowing red eyes, and Dean took another sip of beer to hide his smirk because a lot had changed in the past three years – one of them being that Dean didn't cower for _anyone _anymore_, _knothead or not. He was bigger now, stronger, and definitely more adept at handling handsy Alphas.

Dean did smile, then, leaning back against the bar and cocking his head to one side, looking for all intents and purposes as though he was admiring the Alpha. He could sense those on either side of him moving away a little, either nervous or anticipatory of a vicious attack about to take place – Dean knew he was playing dangerously; he'd sat with the back of his unmarked neck to the room, scent teasing with the beginnings of a Heat, potent and strong despite the early hour, and at one point or another during the night he'd had more than one Alpha sending him an interested glance.

The Alpha's eyes flared red when he still didn't answer. "And what's a pretty Omega like you doing in a place like this?" he demanded, voice a low growl now, and Dean barely stifled his snarl of defiance at the word – fuck, he hated it when it was being used against him like that. The Alpha stepped forward, laying a hand on Dean's thigh and forcing him to spread his legs outward. "I think you should come with me, green-eyes. I could have you hangin' off a knot so big you'd be sore for -."

"About ten minutes?" Dean snapped in reply, smirking wide when the Alpha snarled at him, hand tightening to the point of pain and making Dean wince and close his legs again. Or at least try; the Alpha's grip was firm and strong and Dean couldn't get far.

"The fuck did you just say to me, bitch?" he demanded.

Dean sighed, rolling his eyes and setting his beer down. "I really don't like that word," he murmured, almost to himself, and then without warning he turned around and landed a hard punch to the Alpha's jaw, sending him staggering back. It wasn't too bad a hit – not enough to be grounds for assault (though what self-respecting Alpha accused an Omega of assaulting him) and not enough to stay him for long, but it was a good enough hit that it made the Alpha let go of him, and gave him enough time to slide from the bar stool and make a run for the door.

"You'll fucking regret that!"

Dean laughed, loud and mocking, and took off at a sprint. His car was in the parking lot but he left it abandoned, and instead tore off towards the backwoods behind the bar. There was about thirty feet of open air where the Alpha could gain ground, but then it was just woods, and while that would mean Dean would have to slow down and tread carefully, the Alpha would have to as well.

He could hear the low roar of outrage behind him, the heavy thudding footsteps of the larger man gaining ground, and then Dean was in the trees, his steps light due to his breed and his nature where the Alpha was heavy and brash. An Alpha's eyes were not as accustomed to darkness as Dean's were; Omegas had to be sneaky and sly, and Dean's eyesight was superior through practice as well.

He could hear three sets of footsteps following him, in fact – clearly the Alpha's friends had decided to join the chase, and Dean almost laughed again, but it would give away his position and lose him some much-needed air, so instead he forced himself to run faster and put as much distance as he could between him and the Alphas following.

He could hear a river, and he swerved left and ran for it. The Heat was starting to really hit him now, brought on by the presence of so many Alphas, and he knew he had about half an hour before it became strong enough that he would be traceable.

Dean paused for a moment, allowing himself a brief rest while he breathed deeply and tried to listen. He could hear footsteps ahead of him but they were retreating – one of the Alphas had overtaken him and was still running. Another two sets passed by him, heavy curses and footfalls meaning he could remain still and silent and be unnoticed. As they ran past, Dean continued on his way towards the river – the water would cool his scent, or at least mask it should they return to his trail.

He could hear the running water clearly and knew he was merely feet away, when a hard body collided with his – running up on silent feet and slamming into Dean from behind – and with a snarl Dean turned enough that they both went rolling, until Dean ended up with the Alpha's hand around his throat and another curling against his stomach, teeth at the back of his neck and a heavy body settling between his forced-apart legs, pinning him down.

He growled, clawing at the Earth and at the Alpha's arms to try and get himself free, when a low and familiar laugh reached his ears. "Can't we pass by _one _town without you getting yourself into trouble?"

_"Cas_," Dean whispered, abruptly relaxing and losing all of his fight. He smiled despite himself, turning his head to nuzzle against his mate's cheek, and Castiel turned his head for a kiss. "Heard the receptionist talkin' 'bout the bar," he said in explanation, grinning at Castiel's exasperated huff. "Wanted to have some fun."

"You're an idiot," Castiel murmured in reply, tilting his head to suck a new mark onto Dean's neck – he did this every time Dean wandered off in this way. They usually went out of town when Dean was in Heat because, let's face it, clean-up was a bitch and a half – but that also meant Dean had more opportunity to wander and attract outsider attention. He knew Dean liked it when Castiel reacted; that was why he kept doing it. Abruptly, the Alpha paused, breathing in with his nose pressed to Dean's neck. "I…Dean, you're -."

In response, Dean bowed his head and pressed his hips back against Castiel's, drawing his legs together so that he could lift his hips up and get into a better position to be mounted. Castiel groaned at the mere thought of it, dragging his teeth against Dean's skin and the back of his neck, and dropped his hand from Dean's throat and his stomach, both hands instead flying to Dean's jeans in his need to get his Omega naked and exposed enough for him to sink inside.

Dean hummed, trembling in anticipation, and drew his arms back so that he could rest his forehead against his folded hands. He shivered when Castiel exposed his hard cock and leaking ass to the chill air, only to yelp and almost collapse when Castiel's warm tongue flattened over his hole, greedily licking at the slick leaking down his thighs, eager to taste the Omega where his Heat pheromones were strongest.

"Mm, _fuck_, you're good at that," Dean breathed, trying his best to keep his voice steady when the simple action of Castiel flicking his tongue against his rim had him shaking, ready to come already. The Alpha merely hummed in approval, cold fingers sinking into Dean's cheeks to spread him open so that he could lick deeper, feel the inner heat of his Omega mate around his tongue. "_Fuck_, Cas – please don't tease me."

"I don't want you to come until I knot you," Castiel murmured, finally withdrawing from Dean's hole, dragging his nose up until he could kiss at the small of Dean's back – already sweat was starting to form on his Omega's skin, and Castiel eagerly breathed in the scent of sweat and Heat and sex that was Dean Winchester. "Can you do that for me, Dean? Be patient?"

Dean groaned. "God damn you," he hissed, but spread his legs wider, and Castiel figured that was all the invitation he needed.

He straightened up, forgoing his hold on Dean while he unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans, pleased when his Omega remained still and waiting for him, and he pulled his cock out and gave himself one cursory stroke. With his other hand, he curled his fingers tightly around Dean's hip to hold him still (and to have bruises to darken in the morning), and pulled his Omega backwards, watching with fascination and dry-mouthed awe when Dean's body opened eagerly to him, pretty pink hole stretching wide around his cock as he sank in deeper, until the crisp hair at the base of his cock was pressed against Dean's ass.

Dean moaned when Castiel bottomed out, fingers clawing into the moist earth beneath him and bending down to press his forehead against the dirt. It had been three fucking years, and yet the feeling of Castiel stretching him wide was still so damn good, Dean couldn't get enough of it. Then Castiel pulled back, sliding back in with almost maddening slowness and ease, and Dean made another soft sound, biting his lip when he felt more of his slick leak out around his mate's cock, more wet than he'd been in a while because of the first pulses of Heat pheromones.

Castiel tilted his head back, breathing out harshly behind clenched teeth at the feel of his mate's tight, hot channel clenching around him. Since the first time, it always took his breath away how easily Dean let him in, how eager his body was to receive Castiel and wring pleasure from him.

Dean's breath was getting short, shoulders tensed and head bowed down enough that his shirt and jacket bunched up around the back of his neck, shielding the skin from sight, and Castiel snarled at that, reaching forward with his free hand and curling his fingers around the back of Dean's neck and squeezing tight.

It made Dean shiver – Castiel had never bitten him there, in all the time they'd been together. It was one of the things that marked him apart from other Alphas – to bite an Omega and place a mating mark to the back of their neck while they were in Heat or during a mating was commonplace, but it was also so brutish and violent that Dean balked at the very idea of it. He loved that Castiel could control himself like that now, could chase and catch him or beat another Alpha to a bloody pulp without even a flicker of red in his eyes.

He reached back, lacing his fingers through those clamped down on the back of his neck, and Dean could hear his Alpha's answering purr of satisfaction, thrusts gaining in speed and force the closer Castiel got to his orgasm. The swell of his knot was just beginning to grow, catching on Dean's rim with every feverish, harsh thrust inside of Dean's body.

"Cas," Dean whispered, not even sure what he would ask for if he could get more of his voice to come out; his mouth was so dry, tone desperate and wanting. Each drag of Castiel's cock inside of him was driving him crazy, lighting him up from within. He wanted to come – _needed _it, like he needed Castiel's seed in him to satisfy his Heat and he needed that biting pressure on the back of his neck and he needed it all. "Please, Cas – please -." _I need you to come. I need it._

"You shouldn't tease other Alphas like that, Dean," Castiel said lowly, a small flicker of red going unnoticed behind his eyes as he flattened the hand on Dean's hip against the small of Dean's back, thumb rubbing at the divots there. "It's just cruel."

Dean choked on his laugh, high-pitched whine mixing into the harsh sound that left him. "Fuck you, Cas," he bit out, earning a low growl from his Alpha mate. "_Please_."

"I'd never deny you, Dean," Castiel whispered in reply, leaning down to press a kiss to their interlinked hands, before he clenched his eyes tightly shut, teeth gritted harshly as he allowed himself to let go, fucking into Dean with a low grunt. His knot swelled up with each withdrawal, causing a low sound of pain to leave Dean, and finally he knew he would hurt his mate too much if he kept going – he bottomed out completely and let his knot swell and lock him inside of Dean.

He breathed out harshly, orgasm crashing though him like a punch to the gut, and he wrapped his arm around Dean to reach the Omega's own hard cock. "Fuck, you actually did it," he whispered, awed, voice thick with lust. "_God_."

Dean was trembling, soft whine escaping him as he clenched his eyes tightly shut, arching forward into the tight fist of Castiel's hand around his cock, only to fuck back onto the pull of Castiel's knot inside of him. He cursed lowly, biting into his free fist as he shuddered and came onto the ground below them and over Castiel's hand, letting his Alpha milk him through it as his body clenched tightly around Castiel's knot, unbearably tight and hot and wet, and Castiel's moan was almost as loud as his was.

Castiel pushed himself upright, using Dean's shoulder to prop himself up despite the Omega's protest, and shrugged his jacket off to lay it down onto the ground to their side, and pulled Dean onto his side so that they could lay on it in relative comfort. He buried his nose against Dean's neck, letting go of the Omega's neck to wrap his arms tightly around his Omega, to shield him from the cold and to affirm that Dean hadn't been molested by those other Alphas – he could smell no discernible trace of foreign scents on Dean's skin, either driven away by sweat or sex or _Dean_, and he hummed, nuzzling his mate and apparently satisfied.

"You always run," he whispered, smirking to himself and shaking his head. "One day you're gonna meet an Alpha who can catch up."

"You always find me," Dean countered, turning his head to press their cheeks together and licking at the Alpha's jaw. "You're always faster."

Castiel's arms tightened, soft sound leaving him, and Dean closed his eyes as Castiel's hips stuttered against him, the Alpha obviously reacting to that. Castiel combed his fingers through Dean's hair, allowing his arm to become a pillow for the Omega to rest his head on. Then, Dean abruptly went tense. "Cas," he whispered, tilting his head and reaching back to curl a hand around the Alpha's hip. "I thought I had another day."

It took the Alpha a moment to realize what Dean was saying, and then he took a deep breath as well, pressing his face against his mate's hair while he tried to think about just what that might mean. Unbidden, his free hand snaked forward to flatten across Dean's stomach. "What are the chances, do you think?" he asked.

Dean snorted. "I dropped biology for chem, Cas," he replied, smirking despite himself. "I don't remember."

"It's only just starting," Castiel hazarded. "We have time for Plan B, or something."

Dean was already shaking his head. "No. You can't leave to get it now," he said, biting into his lower lip and flattening his hand over Castiel's. The Alpha tensed for a moment, expecting Dean to move his hand, but the Omega's fingers merely curled around his, grounding and gentle. "I guess now's as good a time as any to say I've been thinking about it."

Castiel blinked, raising his head. "You have?" he asked, surprised.

He could _feel_ the Omega's blush. "Well. Yeah," he replied, shifting enough that Castiel hissed at the tug on his knot, fully reminded that he might actually be coming into his _fertile_ mate right now – Dean was on birth control that only had to be taken once a day before a Heat for four days, and Dean was two pills behind at this point. It was enough of a window as anything.

Dean was tense, waiting with baited breath for his Alpha's response – they hadn't talked about children, starting a family, though Castiel came from a large one and Dean's brother was soon to be happily mated with a baby on the way and so they knew both of them were fertile enough to have one. They just hadn't _talked _about it, really, since the entire mess of their courting had finally been settled.

"Well," Castiel replied slowly, thumb stroking over Dean's stomach in a gentle touch, "if this one doesn't take, we can talk about actively trying."

Dean's eyes flared open. "You want to?" he asked, turning again in an attempt to look Castiel in the eye, hand tightening around Castiel's.

Castiel smiled, leaning down to nip gently at the side of Dean's neck, and then kissed him over the bite, up his jaw, before finally sealing their lips together. The kiss didn't last long – the position was awkward and Castiel knew from experience that it was uncomfortable for Dean to look at him when they were lying this way – and after it Castiel nuzzled against his mate's cheek, hugging him tightly. "Yes," he said – simply, firmly, without any hesitation. "I love you, you arrogant dick."

That startled a laugh out of Dean. "And I love you," he replied softly, pressing his forehead against Castiel's jaw before laying back down, comfortably resting his head on his Alpha's arm, "even if you're a self-righteous asshole."

Castiel laughed again, softer this time. It was getting cold now, and Dean was shivering, but he knew it wasn't just from the cold. His knot was starting to deflate, pumps of semen slowing and getting fewer and farther between. Soon he'd have to pull out and they would have maybe twenty minutes to get somewhere more private – or at least warmer – before Dean's Heat flared to unbearable levels again and they'd have to go another round.

They made it to the car before Dean shoved Castiel inside, damn near knocking him unconscious against the door, and mounted him and rode him until Castiel snarled and bared his teeth against Dean's shoulder and forced his knot inside again.

Then, five miles from their hotel room, Dean reached across from the passenger's seat (he couldn't risk driving while in Heat) and teased at Castiel's cock with his hands and mouth until the Alpha snapped with a low growl, red flaring in his eyes as he pulled over on the side of the road, yanked Dean out of the car and fucked him hard over the hood of the Impala.

* * *

Six weeks later, Dean had snuck into the bathroom with a pregnancy test – he'd had no symptoms of it. No morning sickness or weird cravings or anything like that, but he had to be sure. Castiel came home while he was waiting, and without a word Dean threw him the empty packaging and gestured to the stick that was sitting on the sink and soon would show the results.

They had cleared out the spare room a few days ago. Just in case.

Castiel watched from the threshold, eyes wide and flickering red, and Dean knew his own were glowing with gold – Omega instinct for a family and a child flaring up strongly in him. Finally, his watch beeped, and he took a deep breath before flipping the test over to see the result.

"Negative," he whispered after a long – unbearably long – moment, and he could hear Castiel's heavy exhale. Whether it was relief – empty promises spoken in the heat of the moment – or disappointment – God, how fucked of an Omega was Dean if he couldn't get pregnant during a Heat? – Dean couldn't say, and he didn't look at his Alpha's face to figure it out.

He sighed, rubbing his hands over his face and through his hair, before he picked up the test and threw it out. "Well," he said, shrugging one shoulder and forcing a sheepish grin, "I guess we dodged a bullet there."

Castiel nodded, pressing his lips together. "Dean, it's okay," he whispered, and the Omega wanted to punch him – or maybe break down, because _fuck_, he hadn't even known just how badly he wanted a family until Castiel had suggested that he might be willing to have one too. Dean was due to graduate in a few months and was already on track for a Masters in Chemical Engineering, and Castiel was already on the fast track to being promoted at his job – school hadn't suited the Alpha, he'd decided, and for the past two years Castiel had been steadily working his way up through the ranks of the police force after he'd joined straight out of high school.

They were doing _okay_. And Dean wanted to settle down. He wanted a child. And now…

He sighed, rubbing his palms over his mouth and jaw again, before rolling his shoulders in an attempt to shake the thoughts away. "S'probably better," he said, not meeting Castiel's eyes and dodging out of the bathroom to avoid the Alpha's gentle touch.

"Dean." Dean ignored him, turning away, only for the Alpha to grab for him and spin him around so they were face to face, warm hands cupping Dean's cheeks and forcing their eyes to meet. "_Dean_, it's okay," Castiel said again, earnest and firm and so in control that Dean wanted to punch him all over again. He could feel Castiel's thumb brushing over his cheek, the Alpha looking so damn concerned and adoring – Dean wanted to curl into a ball and hide his face away. "It just means we'll have to try again."

Dean blinked, flashing startled eyes up to meet Castiel's earnest ones, a sudden, startled laugh spilling from him. "Yeah?" he asked, reaching up to pull one of Castiel's hands down from his cheek, bending to kiss at his palm instead.

"Of course," the Alpha replied, smiling as well; glad to see the light back in his mate's eyes. "It's not fair that you've been allowed to torture me all these years and have had absolutely _no _karmic payback. A child would be good for you."

Dean's eyebrows shot up at the challenge, narrowing his eyes at the smug-looking Alpha. "You're such a dick," he spat, grinning despite himself, and leaned forward to kiss chastely at Castiel's mouth. "'Sides, our kids will love me – I'll turn them all against you and train them to attack you whenever they see you and -."

"You're planning on having more than one?" Castiel asked with another dramatic eye roll, thinly-veiled horror in his voice.

Dean smirked, baring teeth, and leaned in close. His eyes flickered to Castiel's mouth briefly, just to go back up to his eyes and watch them dilate and flicker red. "An _army_," he hissed, grinning at the surprised, almost lustful sound Castiel let out at that. He laced his fingers with Castiel's and stepped back, tugging him towards the bedroom. "Run with me, Alpha?"

Castiel growled – dangerous, predatory – in a way that made Dean shiver, and the Omega dropped his hand and turned tail and fled.

And Castiel chased him.


End file.
